LiveIn's
by BlackFeatherz29
Summary: AU Shy art student Hyuuga Hinata is forced to share a dorm with the ill-tempered and rather scary Uchiha Sasuke, but she unexpectedly gains a new friend and a live-in model. SasuHina, NaruSaku, NejiTen, InoShikaTema. Chapter 12 now up!
1. Chapter 1

Live-In's

By BlackFeatherz29

Chapter 1

For the time being, I need something therapeutic to write during the school year. My junior year is turning out to be hell on Earth at the moment, so I feel that writing romance is the way to go. Although, personally, I probably don't have enough credentials to even write one. I've never dated before, and here I am, writing about college students! Way to go, me!

For that reason, none of the romance here will get too extreme... because I don't have enough personal experience to vouch for all that. But I promise you, this will not disappoint you. Also, I'm warning you now that if you're looking for Sakura-bashing, here is not the place to find it. I can't even bring myself to hate Orochimaru, let alone Sakura.

So as a last word, I'm letting you guys know that I'll try and update this story at the very least monthly, which is a big task for me. Please support me with your reviews!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; I only own the storyline. And this was a brainchild of mine long before this was typed out, so don't even try to steal it.

* * *

Pulling her old rickety Toyota into a space in the very corner of the parking lot (she was sure that it would be hell to get out of, but she preferred not to think about that right now), Hyuuga Hinata yanked her keys out of the ignition just in time to catch her beloved David-san before he fell onto the floor. The plaster bust was strapped carefully onto the passenger seat, but no matter what she did, it didn't seem to have the ability to stay there for more than a few minutes. David-san was a custom cast; he was a 36:1 model of the head and shoulders of Michelangelo's famous sculpture, and he was Hinata's favorite thing in the world.

This was why he was sitting in the front seat along with her. He was her driving companion. She gave his plaster-cast hair a fond pat before straightening him up yet again.

"5:46", her watch read. Much too late for lunch and not yet time for dinner. This was a problem, as her stomach found the need to rumble yet again because she had not stopped for lunch. What a predicament.

And on top of that, her whole rooming situation was a mess. For the third time, she half-asked herself why she hadn't taken up on that offer to stay at her own house instead of the dorms.

She mentally shook her head. No, this was a right she had earned herself! She would learn to live independently and escape her doting father for once. Granted, the thought of going back to her nice warm bed was very tempting, but stubbornness would prevail, if just this once!

Because of her doting father's interference, she hadn't even planned on rooming here on campus until a few days ago. And now Hinata didn't even know if there was any studio rooms left this late… her classes started tomorrow!

Taking a deep breath, she climbed out of the car and shut the door with an affirmative thump. She regretted doing this a split second later when David bashed his head unceremoniously on the armrest next to him.

A little while later, Hinata found herself sitting nervously in a flowery upholstered chair in front of the director's desk. There was only one crucial element missing.

It had been twenty minutes. Why wasn't the director there?

The wait was interrupted by the sudden arrival of a boy in a large black shirt and a beanie that completely obscured his face. He had plopped down next to her and immediately plugged his ears with his music player.

Hinata rolled her eyes slightly as she heard the remnants of heavy drums escaping the headphones, but she would refrain from commenting. Instead, she focused on the horrible fake bush that sat in a straw basket by the corner of the desk.

It would be a long time before she was startled by a sound reminiscent to an eighteen-wheeler trying to mow down a house. The door burst open and a woman stumbled in, her black dress suit rumpled. Making her way to her desk without a single glance at the two people staring at her, she plopped into the leather chair and hiccuped before rubbing her eyes.

Mid rub, she seemed to notice her unexpected audience.

"Oh…" the blonde woman said intelligently, eyes roaming over the small dark-haired girl and the punk kid with the headphones in surprise.

"I thought for sure that all the brats would be at that big pre-school year bonanza at the community center today," she muttered, straightening her jacket. "But apparently not."

Taking her face in her hands and scrubbing vigorously for a few seconds, the blonde woman came up looking completely normal. She seemed to have simply swept her hangover clean away.

"So! What do you two brats need today?" she asked in a jovial tone that Hinata could only hope meant that she was feeling normal.

"Um…" Hinata began, glancing nervously at the headphones boy beside her. He didn't seem to be in a hurry to move from his seat, so after a few seconds, Hinata decided she should just get it over with.

"I need a room," she blurted, noticing offhandedly the embossed nameplate that rested on top of the cherrywood desk. 'Tsunade G.', it said. 'Headmistress.'

"Now?" the buxom blonde woman, Tsunade, asked a bit irritably. "Dues were supposed to have been handed in last week. Where were you then?"

"I already mailed in the money for everything else!" Hinata squeaked, squirming uncomfortably as she remembered the tearful argument that she had had with her father on that exact day. It was best to be truthful, though she disliked talking badly of her father. "I had… family troubles."

Tsunade quirked a blonde eyebrow at the girl, unsure what to think. "Fine," she signed, moving to push her chair to in front of the computer. "I'll look up if there are any open rooms available. There probably are a few still open. There always are a few around this time of year reserved especially for students," here she glanced purposefully at Hinata, "who have to wait until the last minute to pick a room."

Suddenly remembering the one important detail she forgot to mention, Hinata added quickly, "It needs to be a studio room!"

Tsunade looked at her with skepticism. "Now that I can't guarantee, sweetie. Studios are highly sought after for the extra living space."

"But I need it!" Hinata exclaimed, suddenly panicked. "I'm a studio art major!"

The blond headmistress sighed. "I guess that is a legitimate reason. I'll look it up, but I can't promise you anything." She went back to her computer and started typing.

Hinata slumped down in her seat suddenly feeling a heavy sense of loss already. All this trouble, with her father and them with Tsunade-sama, and she probably wouldn't even get anything back in return. It really was a horrible way to start off her school year.

Just as she was mentally calculating how difficult it was going to be to drive back home and face her father again, Tsunade gave a low whistle and exclaimed, "Looks like this is your lucky day, honey! One apartment with a studio available in Building 309 down by the end of the lake."

Hinata's heart gave a leap of joy against her rib cage, but that was cut off a second later when the blonde woman suddenly frowned. "Wait a sec… this is one of those blasted 2-bedroom studios."

She turned in her swivel chair to face Hinata, a rather pitying look on her youthful face. "I'm afraid that the only way you could use that dorm is if someone else stays in the other room, honey. Do you have someone in mind?"

The dark-haired girl mutely shook her head, wondering what on earth had just gone wrong.

"No? Well, I guess that's too bad then. We here at Konoha have a policy that says that all rooms have to be filled to their maximum before beginning the issuance of the next room. We don't usually have a problem because all our students sign up at about the same time. But unless you can find somebody to share the dorm with you, I'm sorry."

Hinata's lower lip started trembling perilously, the corners of her eyes stinging hotly with mounting tears. She nodded jerkily and sunk deep into her seat.

'There really was no way this was going to be able to happen,' she thought miserably.

Just as the hot tears were threatening to roll down her cheeks, Hinata heard a rustle beside her.

The headphones boy had turned off his music and sat up from his slumping position in his chair.

He pulled off his beanie to reveal a pale face that could have been chiseled out of marble on a Michelangelo statue. Hinata's mouth fell open and stayed that way for a good several seconds before she remembered to close it.

Those perfect features were just begging to be be recorded on a canvas or pedastal somewhere. The strong cheekbones, the straight, almost Greek nose, and the messy dark hair that framed them; here was the vision of perfection only seen on a fellow human being.

Such was her shock that she nearly missed the words that came from that person's mouth.

"I'll take that extra room."

* * *

That might have sounded like 'love at first sight', but I assure you, there is more to it than it looks. I know from personal experience, and I'm afraid that if I talk longer about this, I might spoil the whole plotline.

Expect the second chapter out in a week or so. I've written about half of it already, but I still need to write the othe half and type the first half. And I'm back from Hurricane Ike-induced week-long break in a few days, so I've got to get a headstart on the rest of my homework.

Please review! Tell me what you think of this story idea! And please excuse the mistakes I make about college life; I'm making this up as I go. I haven't been to college yet.

EDIT: Yes, I did go back and edit this chapter. I read it again today, and was appalled by all the mistakes. You guys need to tell me about these things! I never realized that I was such a horrible writer! And yes, I am being lazy and just editing this instead of working on the new chapter. I'll put it up before I go to China next month! I promise!


	2. Chapter 2

Live-In's

By BlackFeatherz29

Chapter 2

I wrote this out mostly last weekend and didn't really have time to type it all up. Editing is hard work, you know. Much more so that actual writing. I actually had a separate act that was almost completely written out, but I decided against putting it in this chapter since it does happen to lead to a different setting. No cliffhanger this time, folks. Sorry.

Thanks for the support on this story! I do realize that there isn't much of the story here to review, so I'll try and churn out more. I've got a whole bunch of half-formed ideas in my head right now, and I don't have a whole lot of time to develop them since my schoolwork overwhelmes all.

Oh, on an important note: Does anyone have a better title for this story? I put the first chapter up without a real clear idea because I just wanted to submit it first. Anyone? Anyone?

Disclaimer: I own only the plot and my renditions of the characters. As one author eloquently put it, they are my literal "Barbie dolls". Huh. I guess that's kinda true.

* * *

"I'll take that extra room."

Thankfully, Tsunade didn't seem to be too shocked to refrain from cocking an eyebrow in amusement.

"How strange!" she exclaimed in mock enthusiasm. "An Uchiha at Konoha? Are the almighty Uchiha losing their touch to send one of their own here?"

She squinted at him curiously when he did not answer. "Didn't your parents object? You know, they called us 'filthy vagrants' when they came to our information seminar and we offered only a half-expense paid scholarship for your brother because he didn't need any financial aid."

The boy shot her a dark glare that was sufficient to silence her. "I've been disinherited," he said bitterly. "I don't have much money and I've only got so much from my scholarships. It doesn't pay for rooming expenses."

This Tsunade nodded at, seeming to understand the situation. Here she turned to Hinata.

"Do you mind having this brat as a dormmate?" she asked, looking completely serious.

Hinata blinked a few times in surprise. "A-aren't most dorms divided by gender?" she asked feebly, averting her eyes to the floor. Somehow, an ominous feeling came over her, and her ears started burning under her dark hair even before she asked the question.

The blonde headmistress shrugged. "Maybe, but here at Konoha, we don't enforce that. See, even though we're pretty prestigious, we're still a public school. I'd rather forget about all those stupid gender-discriminating lawsuits and save money instead."

Both to-be students sweatdropped slightly. That was it… money, wasn't it?

"And besides, we're known for our diversity and freedom around our campus. If you want a private school setting, try Suna in the next town."

Hinata was still recoiling from the aftershock of such a choice, Her head was spinning; her father would be absolutely furious when he found out that she would be staying in the same apartment as a boy! She couldn't risk that… or could she?

She knew right then that she had no real choice; she really needed that studio apartment. She had to risk her father's anger or drive all the way back home, and she couldn't bring herself to do the latter. Not after she had made such a huge deal about being independent and finally living on her own and not letting her father treat her like a baby about everything.

And if she ever tried to stay in a normal dorm room, only God knew what would become of that! She tried to imagine trying to shove her enormous 60" by 92" canvases below her bed or trying to position all of her half-completed sculptures on the floor without tripping over then and ruining them (a task that she was hard-pressed to accomplish even in her own decent-sized bedroom). It would be impossible!

And on top of that… what on earth was she going to do about that live-model assignment that the school required? She supposed that she could accomplish that at home with Hanabi, maybe, but it wouldn't be easy to get her talented and impulsive younger sister to sit still for 2-hour-long seminars. Somehow, she'd assumed that everything would be easier once she'd left home, but it was starting out to feel like the opposite was true. She hadn't even thought about what she would do.

Looking up from the floor in a resigned manner, she saw Tsunade scrutinizing her face critically before turning and doing the same to the boy sitting beside her.

"… you're a studio art major, aren't you? Miss, er…"

"Hyuuga," Hinata supplied in a small voice. "Hyuuga Hinata."

"Ah, a Hyuuga!" Tsunade exclaimed, nodding approvingly. "Those eyes of yours did look familiar after all. However, no ordinary Hyuuga would send their kids here, what with all their clan traditions and their uptight holier-than-thou bastardly attitudes that even exceed those of those Uchiha … "

She paused upon seeing Hinata blushing up a storm and stopped herself before stopping her rant. "But you must be a special case too, right?"

An embarrassed nod. "Well then, I guess I'm pretty lucky this year, eh? A Hyuuga and an Uchiha, right here at my campus. Looks like we'll have a pretty good batch to show for this year's incoming freshmen."

After pausing for a few seconds, the blonde woman recovered her original train of thought. Then she proceeded to grin a huge Cheshire Cat grin at Hinata, who now looked a little unnerved.

"Studio art major? Yes? In that case, I'm sure you know all about our requirement about having a model on hand to pose for your pieces. The school doesn't have enough funding to always prepare one for you, so you've got to find your own. If you're rooming with this lump," here she gestured to the dark-haired boy who had slumped back down in his chair, "he might as well be your model."

Before Hinata could stutter back an extremely embarrassed "No, I couldn't possibly!", Tsunade leaned out from her desk and purposefully not-so-quietly whispered, "And then you can be sure your pieces are a big hit… especially with the girls!" She began then winking rather suggestively at the boy, who twitched in annoyance.

Poor Hinata was very red and quite mortified, but her desperation had left her no other option. However, while that self-conscious side of her balked, another side silently rejoiced. The free-spirited artist side, she called it, had been dying to haul a bucket load of clay over from her car and sink her hands into it. To have a model like him was an unbelievable honor and a dream come true!

"… I won't have to do anything kinky, will I?" the boy deadpanned before Tsunade wapped him over the head, laughing loudly.

"Oh, Sasuke, you little joker! You're so funny; just look at her, that adorable little thing! How could you ever expect a sweet thing like her to even think of anything strange?"

The boy, Sasuke, rolled his eyes before giving in. "Fine, I'll do it."

Seeing Hinata's small embarrassed nod of consent, the blond headmistress clapped her hands in a satisfied manner. "Well, I guess that it's all settled, then! I'll get my lazy-ass assistant to take you two to your place right away."

Before they could react, a resounding screech of "KIBA!" made the two students recoil in their seats, followed up by an equally loud, "Get your lazy ass over here before I have to go over there and drag you out!"

A crash and a cloud of cursing were heard before a messy-haired boy stumbled out from one of the hallways that were linked to the office.

"Hell, you didn't have to scream at me!" he yelled, holding a side of his head painfully. "My ears are sensitive, ya know! I could hear you the whole time!"

Tsunade rolled her eyes in the manner of one who has heard the same excuse time after time. "Sure, and that's why you stumbled over your own stupid feet and hit your head on the file cabinet when you woke up just now."

Hinata giggled nervously as Kiba sputtered angrily at his boss, and then stopped abruptly when he seemed to notice her and her companion.

She wondered what was on her face when she saw him staring directly at her and his nose start turning the color of the twin triangular tattoos on his cheeks.

Tsunade didn't miss a beat and punched Kiba playfully in the arm.

"Well, I guess you know who you're supposed to take care of," she said, rummaging around a drawer in her desk. "I need someone to take those two to their dorm just as soon as I find those dratted keys … aha!"

Withdrawing a pair of keys, she threw one at Sasuke and one at Hinata. She squeaked and barely managed to catch it.

Tsunade glared at both of them purposefully. "Lose those and you'll lose after-hour privileges for a month. And did I mention that you'll have to shell out 40,000 yen to replace the locks and keys?"

Satisfied with herself, she turned to Kiba and said, "Building 309, down by the lake. Room 24, up the stairs and last at the left."

"Yes, ma'am!" replied Kiba, mock saluting her and grinning broadly. Stepping out from behind the large wooden desk, he motioned at Hinata and Sasuke to follow him.

Once outside, Hinata tentatively posed a question. "Um, Kiba-san, how does Tsunade-sensei know where our dorm is so well?"

Kiba raised his bushy eyebrows, grinning lopsidedly. "Didn't you know? Tsunade-sama has been Headmistress here for nearly thirty years now."

"Thirty years!" Hinata exclaimed, for once forgoing her quiet nature. "Thirty years? That can't be; she doesn't look nearly old enough-"

"She's fifty," Sasuke interrupted quietly from beside her.

For the second time today, the poor girl's jaw dropped in shock.

Kiba shrugged sheepishly. "Yeah, most people have that reaction when they first find out, too. And for a fifty-year-old grandma, she sure can hold her liquor. I wish I had that kind of tolerance!"

Hinata could only nod mutely, still overwhelmed by the fact that the pretty young woman with the impressive chest and alcohol tolerance was fifty years old. Wonders in this world, or at least at this university, would never cease.

* * *

.. and I guess in this world, wondrous skin care products will replace an age-defying jutsu. Well, anything is possible with Tsunade-sama. That much is definitely true.

Look for another update next weekend; it might be rather hard to write tomorrow since I have all these plans for Homecoming and all, and I've got a lot of work to do as usual.

Next time: Meet the neighbors! And maybe Hinata-chan's first day!


	3. Chapter 3

Live-In's

By BlackFeatherz29

Chapter 3

I'm glad I have actually gotten into a routine to regularly update this story. I assure you, this isn't something that happens often. Just take a look at my PoT fic; I haven't updated it in more than a year!

This chapter is a big lackluster, but I'm planning a big introduction next chapter. Our favorite hyperactive blonde with a ramen addiction makes an appearance, along with a certain deadpan artist who has too much free time on his hands.

Please enjoy, and don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or its chars; I only own this story.

* * *

"Your ride is a dump."

Hyuuga Hinata automatically winced and opened her mouth to retort, but then she saw that this was not directed toward her. Instead, she saw a scowling Sasuke taking off his helmet, his gleaming motorcycle propped beside him.

The goal of that particular jibe was evidently to bruise a bloated male ego, as a fuming Kiba was revealed to have been struck. Hinata hid a small smile. Though she did agree that his motorcycle was a beautiful machine by itself, his choice words to describe Kiba's car had been quite right.

The beat-up midsize was so dirty that the beige paint hardly showed through the grime. Dents studded the roof and the sides of the car, and its front fender was only loosely screwed it.

"Hey, it was a good bargain!" Kiba was railing. "And it's not my freakin' fault that our family has to breed humongous-ass dogs for a living or that they think my car's their newest best friend!"

Sasuke hoisted two black sports bags onto his shoulder and smirked over it. "I may have less money than you, but I sure as hell have better taste."

"No fuckin' way! Poor, my ass! Why, I oughta-"

Stepping back, Hinata took a good long look at her future home. The building itself didn't look particularly beautiful in itself; it was stubbornly rectangular in its shape, with windows at places that looked entirely too regular. The only thing that kept the apartment building from looking like a shoebox with windows were the Japanese maple trees that dotted the perimeter and the ancient-looking wooden paneling beside the windows.

A strange combination of the hand-made and the concrete-molded, she mused. She supposed that she could not expect anything more; Konoha was indeed a public school, though its various fields had received numerous awards.

A voice broke through her art-induced trance. "Oi, Hinata-san! We're going in!" Kiba yelled, already at the top of the wrought-iron stairs.

"Coming!" she replied, hurriedly unlocking her trunk and shouldering a few bags up the stairs.

Upon entering the dark apartment, the first thing that Hinata noticed was that it was big. It was bigger than she had imagined it to be, more specifically.

The short hallway led straight to the main room, half of which was carpeted and half of which had only bare concrete as the flooring. She could already see the paint stains that refused to come out of the concrete.

A kitchen branched off the hallway, leading to a small dining area that was linked to the studio part. The two bedrooms were at the end of the hallway, facing one another with a bathroom in between.

Seeing that, Hinata felt a sensation that resembled seeing an unavoidable train collision at slow motion. Only one bathroom… this could potentially get awkward.

She made a mental note to get up at least a half an hour early to shower each morning. She did not want to get into any run-ins with her less-than-obliging dorm mate.

"And here you are! Home sweet home," Kiba declared, seeming to have forgotten his petty quarrel with Sasuke. "Any questions? If not, I'm out of here"

The other male in question strode straight by him, heading in a beeline to the door on the left. "I have one," he replied, smirking mightily. "Mind helping us get our stuff up here, Pack Mule-san?"

Kiba's face turned red with anger, but he caught a glance at the small Hyuuga girl standing in the hallway and relented. "I ain't doing a thing for you!" he shot back at Sasuke. "I'm going to help Hinata get her stuff up because she's not a bastard like you!"

He motioned for her to put her bags down and follow him back out the door. Hinata obliged, although she wanted to get to her room first. But she wasn't going to argue with hormonal males; she'd had more than enough experience with all her male cousins.

"I can't believe that you're moving in with that bastard," Kiba remarked as they made their way back down the stairs.

When Hinata gave him a small smile and thanked him for all his help, he began stuttering. "I-I mean, I'm only helping you get your stuff cuz I feel sorry for you! I-it's not like I've got something fer you…"

The girl in question looked slightly confused, her favorite plaster cast clutched in her arms.

"Erm…" she heard Kiba grumble as he carried the rest of her bags up the stairs. When they had both reached the top, she heard him clear his throat.

"Uh, I didn't mean exactly what I said last time. Just… if you have any trouble living with the bastard, just call me up and I'll beat him up for you, 'kay?"

Hinata somehow doubted that her situation would get that bad, but it was nice that he asked. "Thank you, Kiba-kun."

She wondered again if he was sick at the moment when he turned red again and started mumbling incomprehensibly.

Once she had moved all her luggage to her new room, she stood back and eyed the space critically. The room itself was good-sized, but not nearly as big as her bedroom at home. This might be a problem, as she had brought just about everything that she could carry from home.

The bed was small and sat squarely in the middle of the room, a lone desk and chair sitting in a corner with a narrow bookshelf on the other side. The dark carpet underfoot didn't seem like the cleanest thing in the world, and neither did the closet.

She sighed. She was seriously unprepared to deal with moving to a new place. It hadn't even occurred to her to buy disinfectant or paper towels, and already it seemed that she would need those things more than ever.

"Need help?"

She turned suddenly to see her new dorm mate standing in the doorway of his room, looking amused.

Hinata noticed vaguely that his room was already set up with the bare minimal and that a pleasantly clean lemon scent was wafting from it.

Having recovered from her momentary shock at the degree of clean that a male could exhibit, she politely accepted. Though Uchiha Sasuke-san seemed rather arrogant and scary, she knew it would be best to be able get along with him on a regular basis.

It already seemed hopeful that she would be able to count on him. It was very nice for him to volunteer to help, even if it did seem like he was teasing her at the same time.

Twenty minutes later, her room was mostly set up. David-san was sitting comfortably on top of the bookcase, her clothes were hung up (if haphazardly), and only her canvases and statues remained to be stored in the studio area.

A remark of "Oh? What's this?" made Hinata glance over and then cry out in horror.

Her dorm mate had discovered her collection of troll dolls.

Sasuke picked one up by its small body and studied it with a raised eyebrow, seemingly unaware of Hinata's agitation.

When she'd first started collecting them, she was all of ten years old. They were popular in America, apparently; even though they weren't common in Japan, she'd tried to get every one that she could find. That is, until both Neji and Hanabi had asked her skeptically exactly why she liked the pug-nosed, static-electricity-challenged trolls. Then, she learned to stop showing them off…

… until her dignified, intimidating dorm mate on which she had wanted to make a good impression discovered them.

"Ah, ano! I-I know that they aren't very popular here, but it's just a secret hobby of mine! I know you probably don't think they're cute or anything, but I-"

"… my brother liked them," Sasuke said slowly, cutting off her stuttering excuses.

"Really?"

He turned it over slowly, eyes lingering on the smiling face with its characteristic squashed nose. "Yes… when I was very young, I remembered several of them on his bookshelf."

Having realized that she wasn't going to be ostracized for her bizarre sense of cuteness, Hinata opened her mouth to ask about Sasuke's brother only to be cut off again.

"He always did have a twisted sense of humor." A wry smile followed. He glanced over to look at Hinata and answered her unasked question. "He's gone now."

"Ah…" She figured that she'd better not ask any more questions.

A second later, Sasuke shifted his focus elsewhere. "Since you're just about done here, I'll leave you alone. I'm going to sleep."

At Hinata's momentary look of confusion, he answered rather snidely, "I drove for seven hours to get here. And even if you are a useless girl, you should be able to finish the rest by yourself. "

His door closed after him. Hinata took a few seconds to comprehend his last words, shoulders slumping as she realized that it was going to be harder to get along with him than she thought.

Ah, well, her expectations were too high anyway. At least he had helped her get rid of the spider webs in the carpet and set up her room. That in itself was a rather tedious task, so she supposed that she should just be thankful.

She resolved that next time she went shopping, she'd buy a vacuum cleaner to share for all their troubles.

* * *

As for what happened with Itachi, I'm keeping that a secret. I assure you, it's not as bad as the original Uchiha Massacre; usually, I don't think that normal people go crazy as fast as ninjas. Thus, the magnitude is kept to the size that fits normal society. If it was the original magnitude... it would be even worse than any of the serial killers that we still hear about today, right? Charles Manson would have nothing on Itachi.

I've taken the time to plan out a timeline of incidents that would occur following this, and I believe that it would be well-liked. Please look forward to the next chapter, almost certainly due next weekend!

You can't imagine how weird it feels to be saying that. Seriously.

Review! I'm quite happy with the response that the first two chapters have gotten, so I expect some good reader imput this time as well!

PS: I'm not sure whether I should do ShikaTema or ShikaIno. Some imput, please? Just tell me, and I'll count them.


	4. Chapter 4

Live-In's

By BlackFeatherz29

Chapter 4

Here I am with a weekly update... and it is probably going to cost me my GPA at that. I have my PSATs on Wednesday, and a whole bunch of stuff due on Monday and Tuesday. Urgh. Thus, this chapter may be a bit half-assed as I didn't have much time to write it in.

Sorry, yati. This is the last chapter of that one day. I promise.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I own only the plotline. Too tired to think of anything else.

* * *

It didn't take long at all for Hinata's stomach to start growling again. The evening's previous excitement had agitated her stomach into submission for an hour or two, but that was all it took for it to start going again.

She wondered vaguely if Sasuke had any food that he'd brought with him, but decided that it would be rude to ask, as he was evidently still asleep and it would be unthought-of to rummage through his things.

Attempting to distract herself from her hunger, Hinata exited her bedroom and sat down next to one of the walls of the living room, book in hand. It took her another half an hour to realize that this wasn't going to help later.

Her sanity was saved at the last second by the sounds of loud male voices and stomping outside her door. The distraction was well-met, as she stood up curiously and made her way to the tiny eyehole built into the wooden door.

She could just barely make out two boys involved in what looked like an unfairly one-sided fight from her precarious position on her tippy-toes (as her height was not something to boast about). And the yelling was unfairly one-sided too.

Who were these people?

Normally in circumstances like this at home, there wouldn't be any question about what she would do in this situation. She just wouldn't open the door. Period. First off, they had servants to do it for them. Second off, if Hinata were to be kidnapped and horrifically ransomed, it would cause problems for the clan. And third off, her father would be mad. Yes, that was a whole nother reason altogether.

But since it was a new place and a new experience, Hinata felt as if she could attempt to transcend these traditional limitations.

She was terribly bored anyway.

So she cautiously opened the door and stuck her head out to look strangely at the two boys scuffling outside her door.

The loud blonde one who was making the racket had his back to her, and he had the other boy in a headlock that didn't seem to have much of an effect. Which explained the yelling, she supposed.

The only reason that she had gleaned this was because the second boy had been facing her and he had had a strange smug smile on his face even as he was being nearly throttled to death. This went on for quite a few seconds before the violent boy changed his tactics and tried to give his happy friend a noogie, hoping to wipe that smile off his face, probably. This did not work either, as the other dark-haired boy just spun around halfway (90 degrees counterclockwise and toward Hinata, she was dismayed to realize) and avoided the incoming fist altogether, prompting another bit in incoherent yelling… that is, until the blonde boy became aware of her wide-eyed staring just a couple of feet away.

He was, she felt compelled to say, very odd and yet very attractive. Though his facial structure denoted good facial planes and his tanned skin and light blonde hair gave an appropriate impression of ruggedness (and manliness, she could not help from mentioning), the small imperfections that he had, like too-big ears, a rather pug-like nose, and strangely pointed teeth (along with three tattoo-looking scratches on each cheek), enhanced rather than took away from his handsomeness.

Of course, she did agree that she must have been rather biased, because as soon as she had laid eyes upon those wonderful blue (but rather clueless-looking) eyes, she suddenly felt an urge to go weak at the knees and blush profusely. The weak-at-the-knees part she was able to stop, but the blushing… she had always been a terrible blusher.

The worst part of it was that a split second later, she realized that she really had no right to be there spying at two strangers minding their own businesses, and that she had been shamelessly staring at them for the past couple of seconds. Hinata gave a small terrified squeak and was about to slink back into her apartment when the blond boy's face split into a huge grin that was so wide it was almost physically impossible.

This was quickly followed by a pout of feigned anger as he exclaimed, "Hey, Sai! I didn't know that we were neighbors with a cute girl!"

Having escaped the deadly noogie and now sure that his friend had forgotten all about whatever that particular argument had been about, the other boy, Sai, just chuckled a bit. "I thought you were drunk, Naruto-kun. Oh well, I guess that my theory is correct. "

Huh…?

"You must only be sane when you are drunk. Otherwise, you would not have considered her cute since when you are sober you believe that pink-haired hag who models for you is attractive so therefore either your sight or your thought process must normally be stunted –"

'Naruto-kun' just jumped on him and put Sai in another headlock, screaming incoherently about 'how dare he insult a girl like that because this one was probably going to kill him for that' and 'don't just go around talking about alcohol so openly because who knew what they would do to him'. Hinata was just perplexed (and still rather agitated) that neither of them had asked why she was there and what she was doing.

And this was the choice moment when her dorm mate chose to stumble up behind her and make his rather lacking entrance.

"What the hell is going on with all this racket outside?" Uchiha Sasuke grumbled, scratching his head distractedly and trying to flatten the bed hair sticking up all over the place.

Hinata gave a small 'eep' of surprise, then turned and apologized for waking him up. He gave no reply but shifts to glare at Naruto and Sai out in the hallway.

The blonde boy blinked a few times and twitched. "Hinata-chan," he began (she was embarrassed but pleasantly surprised that he had begun referring so closely to her already), "you already have a boyfriend? And you're living with him?"

This prompted Sasuke to step out into the hallway and grab the other boy's collar in a deadly challenge. "… are you picking a fight with me, smart-ass?"

Naruto backed down instantly. "Hey, man, I didn't mean anything! You don't need to get all defensive about it!"

"Unless you're embarrassed about not being able to get a girlfriend," piped up Sai from beside him. This made the already-pissed Sasuke drop Naruto roughly and start a narrow-eyed staring contest with the other boy.

"Um," Hinata began, vainly trying to stop three testosterone-fueled males from starting another fight, "i-it's not like that… really, it isn't!"

Meanwhile, Uchiha Sasuke had realized through his haze of sleepiness that one could not call this conflict a staring contest when one of the participants did not have his eyes open (how Sai could smile such an innocent and yet evil smile with both of his eyes happily closed was beyond him). He broke off his gaze reluctantly and set about clearing up the disagreement. After all, there were better things to do.

They spent the good part of ten minutes explaining their current situation. Actually, it was mostly Hinata trying to string together a few coherent sentences and Sasuke putting in a statement or two that would make her blush to the roots of her hair because of his sheer matter-of-fact-ness.

Nevertheless, Naruto had finally understood that A) no, Sasuke was not Hinata's boyfriend, B) no, he had not kidnapped her against her will, and C) no, they had never met each other before. Sai, meanwhile, quietly chuckcled off to the side at some ongoing joke that no one else had the honor of knowing before suggesting that they join him and Naruto in their apartment for dinner.

They really had no choice since it was getting late and they were hungry.

So that was how Hinata found herself standing off to the side in the living room part of the studio of Sai and Naruto's apartment, marveling at the 180 degrees of difference between the two owners of this place.

In one corner of the room lay a mountain of plastic-wrapped snack foods, the most numerous of which were Styrofoam cups of instant ramen noodles. Thrown haphazardly next to it were many articles of dirty laundry and many more miscellaneous items. There were a couple of armature stands thrown in there for good measure, and a few strange-looking stuffed animals.

In the opposite corner of the room, however, was a neatly piled stack of paper boxes, notebooks, and stretched canvases. There were no snack foods, no laundry, and no plushies in this corner. It was so clear whose side was whose that it was almost painful.

In the middle of this virtual division of sorts between ultra-messiness and ultra-OCDness sat a threadbare red sofa, a worn coffee table, and a small square television set (completely with outdated v-shaped antenna).

Hinata hesitantly took a seat on the closet end of the couch, glancing nervously at Sasuke who sat on the other end, who was still grouchy from his untimely wake-up call.

"AND here we go!" came Naruto's exuberant voice as he came out of the kitchen balancing four steaming cups of (what else?) instant ramen. "Dinner is ready!"

Sai followed, carrying a plastic carton of rice balls bought recently from the convenience store. Shortly after, Naruto dashed back into the kitchen and produced two cans of beer.

"We should celebrate Hinata-chan's move-in today!" he exclaimed, snapping open the clasp of one can and chugging down a good half of it.

"Aren't you a little young to drink beer, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, a little nervous. Her father never drank voluntarily; ceremonial wine was one thing, but she had never seen anyone drinking beer before. If she remembered her statistics, the legal age for drinking in Japan was twenty years of age.

"Eh, rules don't apply so easily to me," he answered, wiping his mouth with his wrist in a greatly satisfied manner. "My old man and his master drank all the time and they sneaked sake into my cup when I was twelve before I started to join them." At her vaguely scandalized expression, he assured, "Don't worry, Hinata-chan! I've learned from my old man and I've never gotten slammed in my life!"

"Hmph," was Sasuke's dubious reply, his eyes flashing distastefully over the instant ramen and convenience store onigiri that was to be his dinner that night.

Hinata sighed, agreeing with her dorm mate for once. This couldn't be healthy for a person's body. Nevertheless, she didn't have an alternative.

"Itadakimasu!"

* * *

And there you are. Half-assery. Yay. I have been rewatching the Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, so I apologize if I sounded like Kyon. It's unconscious, it really is.

Results of the survey... uh, not much time today, at least, to determine the winner. The number of votes for Ino and Temari are just about even. It lookes like the beginning of an infamous love triangle...

I'm very happy with the large amount of reviews last chapter, so keep it up! Also, please wish me luck on my PSATs and my grades! I'm going to need it.


	5. Chapter 5

Live-In's

By BlackFeatherz29

Chapter 5

I had an excuse for not updating last week. Seriously, I did. No, I'm not kidding.

First off, I fell asleep on Friday afternoon at 5, and I forgot to ask my mom to wake me up, so I ended up sleeping for fourteen hours straight and wasting my entire Friday. Second, there were some noisy brats who came to the fellowship meeting at our house on Saturday night, and they computer died after they played their little skateboard games on it. Thus, I lost the material I did happen to write, and my dad was mad at me for a week. Plus, there was homework.

So, you see, it's perfectly reasonable that I should not have such high-quality stuff this time. I am also very busy this weekend, and my mom was mad at me last night while I was typing this up. Sigh. I shouldn't even be writing this right now; my parents are out at the moment.

So, I do hope that you enjoy this, even though this is basically stuff I wrote off the top of my head (because I wasn't sure if I should include this segment or not), and I'm sorry if it's really really bad.

Disclaimer: This story of crap belongs to me, but Naruto belongs to Kishimoto.

* * *

Exiting the white-bricked art building, Hinata adjusted the strap of her large black case across her chest before starting forward on the path. Inhaling the fresh autumn air, she let it out in a long, controlled breath.

Her first class was over, and she was to make her way to her second course within fifteen minutes. Somehow, she couldn't bring herself to hurry at this point. Not after her surprisingly exciting class.

Hinata had made true on her promise to get up early in order to take a shower before her grumpy dormmate could monopolize it first. If his mood was that bad when he took a nap at night, she could only imagine his temper in the mornings. In that way, it was good that her classes were so early.

It didn't take long to eat breakfast; Sai and Naruto were kind enough to give them a few onigiri to serve as their breakfast the next morning, Afterwards, she carefully sorted through her plastic carrying case and her black canvas bag, uncertain what to bring.

She guessed that the first day wouldn't consist of anything much besides orientation, but she could never be too careful. She packed two stretched canvases and a set of acrylics in her bags just in case, and stepped out of the still-dark apartment with her key securely hung around her neck. She most certainly wouldn't be paying 40,000 yen.

The walk was long but quite scenic, since there was more than enough time to get to wherever she had to get to. Konoha's campus had some very nice views, particularly close to her dorm. She remembered Tsunade saying something about it being close to a lake, and what a glorious lake it was. Hinata resolved to paint it when she had time.

Upon reaching the desired building, Hinata was pleased to note that her leisurely walk had taken up a suitable amount of time and that she was now neither late nor early.

She was even more pleased when she noticed Sai and Naruto in her class of thirty or so people. It took only a jovial wave from Naruto to make her face turn red and hot.

The teacher had been a sharp-eyed woman named Kurenai who had lectured them all sternly on the uses of art in the world today and the proper guidelines that one must follow. Following this, the rest of the class was spent sketching a simple fruit and pottery arrangement in the center of the room with graphite.

It hadn't been a particularly eventful class by itself, but the familiar presence of Naruto made Hinata feel better somehow. And the teacher wasn't bad at all; Hinata had acquired a fondness for the class already, and it wasn't just the subject either.

Next was color theory. Though Hinata was sometimes embarrassed over her lack of color sense, it didn't mean she didn't enjoy it in her own way. It was art, after all.

The corners of her mouth turned up in a silly smile, Hinata gave her bag an assertive hoist and started off.

* * *

Sitting across from a pink-haired girl whom she had never met before, Hinata grudgingly stared at her plastic-wrapped sandwich and bottled water with skepticism. This was not what she had had in mind for her lunch. It was to be expected of a side effect of a rich upbringing, but this was just so… so…

Like many other girls, Hinata enjoyed the feeling of what one would call comfort food. In order to counter a setback or to psych oneself up for the occasion, a slice of double-iced chocolate cake and some good gourmet Italian would be duly needed in order for proper effectiveness. It was just her luck that the schedule that she had been assigned to not only required her walk in an inefficient circle around campus in order to attend her classes in order, but that her lunch was a mere half hour sandwiched between oil painting and color theory, thus rendering her plan of going out for lunch every day useless.

It was with disappointment that she resigned herself to refraining from proper comfort food during lunchtime. It was true that she was grateful to Sai and Naruto for their generosity, but that sort of cheap convenience store food simply would not suffice, especially since their eventful dinner last night had consisted of exactly the same thing. Proper food must be consumed to wash that down.

The meals back home were, to say the least, absolutely drool-worthy. Even when she had gone to a public school briefly during junior high, Hinata had earned the envy of the entire class the first time she had taken out her bento box and opened the lacquered lid to let the delicious smells come through. She had had to hide out on the roof for the rest of the school year because the hungry junior high boys simply would not leave her alone.

Not to say that she felt ungrateful, but Hinata was still relatively new to the most familiar remnants of commoner culture. But since she had been resolute in her refusal to use her family's well-endowed treasury, it left her only her own savings. Plus, she could only cook the most basic of basics. It was really quite impressive that she could cook at all; most Hyuuga turned up their noses at such menial tasks.

Taking a tentative bite into her bread, Hinata was relieved that it seemed to taste at least passably good. Not all university could boast of the same quality.

So far she had discovered two things about Konoha University: 1) Everyone at Konoha was weird, and 2) they seemed to care more about food here than anywhere else. She didn't know whether to be amused or be scared at that.

She noticed that the pink-haired girl who sat near her was completely oblivious to whatever Hinata was doing. Her nose in a medical textbook, she seemed too absorbed in it to even touch her own packed lunch. Hinata chewed thoughtfully, switching abruptly to artist mode.

Though she evidently loved reading more than anything else, this girl also seemed to take care of herself well. She had long lashes that were light brown in color, a peculiarity that Hinata had only ever noticed in foreigners. The slopes of her face were soft but well placed, and if anything, it was that perfectly symmetrical quality to her face that made it appealing.

Suddenly, Hinata was startled rather violently by a loud feminine voice that cried, "SAKURAAAA!" around the general location of her ear, and she nearly dropped her sandwich in surprise.

The same loud feminine voice had shifted to identify itself as belonging to a tall blonde girl who had snuck up behind Hinata and was now making a beeline for the other girl. Hinata was too surprised to do anything but stare as the blond girl grabbed 'Sakura' in a bear hug and started talking a mile a minute. 'Sakura' was less jovial in response, having been interrupted in her reading.

The blond girl only noticed Hinata after Sakura irritably pointed her out to her ("Show more consideration for others, Ino-pig!"). Hinata was suddenly given the feeling of sitting on a pedestal and being surveyed like a prize pig on its way to the slaughterhouse. She shrunk under the girl's stare.

The blonde had piercing blue eyes that seemed to scrutinize her with an unnatural intensity, and Hinata suddenly felt very self-conscious. Was something wrong with her appearance? Her hair had only dried an hour ago; was it sticking up? Were her pale eyes really that freaky? Were her clothes too casual?

These fears were driven away a split second later when the blond girl, Ino, gave a shriek of joy and launched herself Hinata, who was speechless with shock.

"Iya, where in the world did you meet such a cute little thing, Sakura? I just want to eat her up!"

Sakura gave Hinata an apologetic look and rolled her eyes. "None of your business, Ino-pig. See, look! You're bothering her even more now!"

Ino just threw her head back and waved the words away. "Nonsense!" she laughed, pulling away to grin at a semi-horrified Hinata. "See, she's just perfectly adorable! Just look at those little rosy cheeks!"

"Umm…" stuttered Hinata, shrinking from Ino and the unwanted attention.

"See? She's speechless with joy!"

"She's speechless from something else, idiot!"

Hinata had scarcely recovered from the shock of that when she heard someone shout a familiar name with an even more familiar voice and nearly fainted again.

It was Uzumaki Naruto who now entered the fray and nearly threw himself onto Sakura with hearts in his eyes.

"Sakura-chaaan! I bet you totally missed me yesterday, didn't you? I know, I know, I don't even need to mention it! You don't need to be embarrassed cuz I missed you even more than you could ever–"

Sakura just started cracking her knuckles, bringing an end to Naruto's happy rambling. "… I may be your childhood friend, but that doesn't mean that you have the right to assume things about my feelings."

Naruto immediately backed off, chuckling sheepishly. "Geez, you never let your guard down, do you?"

It was then that he noticed a petrified Hinata being glomped again by the excitable Ino. "Oh, it's Hinata-chan!" he cried, oblivious. "Whoa, I didn't expect to see you here!"

Sakura raised an eyebrow at this. "You know him?" she asked Hinata.

Hinata nodded, gently trying to pry Ino's arms off. "Y-yes. He's my next door neighbor…"

"Yeah, and what a party we had last night! You really should have tried some of that beer, Hinata-chan! It would have made the meal so much better!"

Sakura gave him a warning glare and turned to smile at Hinata. "Hinata, right? Sorry about this guy; he's not as bad as he looks. He may be a klutz, but I've known him for more than ten years and he's okay in his own way."

An agonized cry. "Sakura-chaaaaan!"

"Hey, don't you 'Sakura-chan' me now! It's a crime to try and coerce someone to drink!"

"But I was only offering!"

Hinata watched their little shouting match with vaguely horrified amusement. "A-are they always like this?" she asked Ino timidly, for the girl had now stopped hugging Hinata had was shaking her head in resignation.

"They've been together forever," Ino chuckled, forgoing her earlier bombastic attitude with a surprisingly supportive one. "They argue all the time; it's just part of their loving relationship, I guess."

Hinata felt a feeling vaguely resembling that of her stomach dropping out through the bottom of torso. Loving…?

For the first time, she felt a twinge in her heart seeing other peoples' happiness. The sensation was so foreign that it would not be until much later that she even realized what she had been feeling.

* * *

Ino and Sakura are fun to write. So are Sakura and Naruto. Argh, who am I kidding? This chapter practically had no purpose. I'm sorry that you all had to read this...

Next chapter: Naruto forces his way into the Sasuke/Hinata apartment for a (friendly) chat, and Sakura has a crush...


	6. Chapter 6

Live-In's

By BlackFeatherz29

Chapter 5

Yes, I know that this is a day late, and I'm sorry, but once again, lots of stuff happened. This chapter is meant for a lot of subtle purposes as well as bonding (this is just as important as drama!). My wrist is aching terribly as I write this. Please review to make it feel better. And ugh, schoolwork. More stuff, more stuff...

Nice long chapter for you all :) Some development, mostly friendship. Ah, friendship, a beautiful thing. Almost, if not more, beautiful as romance. Last chapter was just a lead-up to this one.

Currently, it is 12:30 here, and I'm trying to decided whether to submit it or not. Aw, shucks. I be submitting this thing now for you grateful readers.

Disclaimer: Naruto and co. don't belong to me, but this story and my changes do.

* * *

The ring of the doorbell, repeating itself every half second or so, came sooner than expected. Hinata tripped over the low-lying table in her haste to get to the door, ending up in a heap and grimacing in pain.

Her enthusiasm was not dimmed at all, for it was Naruto-kun who was arriving. All pain was forgotten at his name...

Pausing to knead her newly bruised knee, Hinata glanced over to Sasuke, who had gotten up from his cushion on the floor and was heading for his room. "Don't you dare let the dobe near my room," he shot at her, glaring. Hinata nodded weakly, though she doubted that she could hold off Naruto.

Overflowing with happiness after Naruto invited himself to her apartment to visit, Hinata had experienced a temporary lapse in judgement earlier in the day and had not had the heart (or integrity) to decline Naruto's ringing self-declaration of his intention to visit the two in their apartment that very afternoon. It was probably due to her overheated head and the steam gushing out of her ears that she had forgotten about Sasuke's dislike of the loud-mouthed pesky blonde.

It took many minutes to get him to agree to even let Naruto in the apartment, since this place was also half his. However, Sasuke finally gave up on account of the fact that even if Hinata or Sasuke didn't let him in, Naruto would either mow down the door or smash through the wall, which ever way was more convenient. There was just no stopping him.

It was just their luck that they were neighbors. And to add to that, Naruto had somehow formed a bizarre one-sided friendship with Sasuke and had begun going to great lengths to annoy the taller boy to the best of his degree.

Hinata had even went out of her way to cook before he got there. She really didn't want to seem like an ungracious host, and Naruto always appreciate food.

Limping toward the door and swinging it open, Hinata could hardly move out of the way before the hyperactive blond boy skipped in, dragging a pale hand...

"Sakura-san?" asked Hinata, sprawled awkwardly behind the door.

The pink-haired girl in question only had time to look politely embarrassed and give a little wave before Naruto started tearing his way around the living room, yelling for Sasuke at the top of his lungs.

"BASTARD! I know you're here; I can see your bike from here! Come and and face me, asshole!"

After a brief scuffle that consisted of Hinata feebly trying to hold Naruto back from what was obviously Sasuke's closed door (the other two were open), Naruto overwhelmed her half-hearted protests and nearly wrenched the door off its hinges after he discovered it to be locked. Only after threatening Sasuke with repair costs for a broken door did the abused door finally open, and a choked kind of 'oof!' angry yells were heard as Naruto joyfully stormed in and took a flying leap onto his friend.

Several seconds later, the fuming Sasuke was forcibly propelled out into the living room, Naruto behind him screaming insults into his ear. Hinata gave a small 'urk' as she found herself the target of Sasuke's deadly laser-beam glare and involutarily took a step back. Looking for Sakura, Hinata stared as she saw her friend hypnotized by the mere sight of him.

Sakura turned suddenly, startling Hinata. With a grip invigorated exponentially by the arrow of Cupid buried in her heart, she asked hoarsely, "Who is he?"

Hinata twitched and began stuttering. "Um... m-my dormmate..."

"You live with him?!" Sakura demanded, eyes wide and cheeks red. "Y-You're not together, are you?"

Hinata began fervently shaking her head and stuttering out denials, inwardly marveling at the strength of the other girl. Her shoulders were starting to hurt by this point...

"Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan!" called Naruto, seemingly oblivious to what was going on. "Come join us! Sasuke-bastard is willing to talk now!"

Almost immediately, Sakura dragged Hinata over and then proceeded to collapse like jelly on the floor. Hinata 'eep'ed as she ended up next to Naruto, who gave her a blinding smile. She nearly fainted, but thought better of it.

"-- and so, this is my long-time friend, Haruno Sakura-chan! She happened to be at my place tonight, so I thought that I'd bring her over since Sai still isn't back yet."

Sakura gave a charming smile, aimed almost certainly aimed at the stoic Uchiha. "Hi, I'm Sakura! Naruto has been my neighbor since we were little, and we used to play together alot! Right now, I'm a first year here and I'm studying to be a doctor!"

It was a little disheartnening to Hinata. Instead of noticing the way that Sasuke began to twitch in rhythm with his pulse, she slumped into her chest and mentally bemoaned herself for her lack of courage. After all, Sakura-san had just fallen head of heels over Sasuke-kun and she had the integrity to openly approach him already.

"Hina-chan? Your turn."

Hinata gave a little shriek as Sakura poked her side, looking vaguely hurt. Sakura giggled softly, the sound like the tinkling of bells. Hinata noticed that Sakura's blush had made her face look even prettier than it had been before, complementing her bright pink hair and giving her a lovely glow as well as revealing charming freckles. Why couldn't I look good when I'm around Naruto-kun? thought Hinata, remembering miserably how she always tripped and managed to look like a moron whenever he was around.

"Um..." she began, eyes angled to the ground. "I-I'm Hyuuga Hinata, and I'm a first year studying studio art..."

"Hinata-chan's in my classes!" exclaimed Naruto from beside her, oblivious to Hinata's pain. "We have all the same periods and teachers!"

Hinata's shame deepened with her blush. Why did she have to have so many periods with him if she was only going to look stupid? And he was just so nice and gave her so many chances too...

"-- n't you going to introduce yourself?" came Sakura's voice, directed toward Sasuke. He answered with a rude grunt, not saying anything.

"Don't get put off, Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried. "He's like that all the time. He's Uchiha Sasuke, and he's studying law here! Sai and I met him and Hinata-chan the day before classes started, and we invited them over and had dinner together!"

Sasuke growled menacingly at him, but after a brief pause, he chose to speak normal words.

"Hey, Hyuuga, it's almost time to eat. You can go get the food out already."

Hinata lifted her head, surprised, and gave him a grateful smile before rushing off to the kitchen.

She honestly could not thank him enough at this moment, she thought as she carried the rice cooker across the studio floor to a spot beside the low table. Sakura was apologizing profusely for the dinner invitation, switching between that and screaming at Naruto.

Hinata hid a smile as she noticed Sasuke raising his eyebrow at the arguing pair. It seemed that Sakura's Naruto-thumping display had given her a great deal of respect in his eyes.

'Keep at it, Sakura-san!' Hinata thought, going back for her big pot of curry, curiously unconcerned for Naruto's safetly at the moment.

* * *

"-- you got first place in that competition? You're great, Hina-chan!"

Hinata giggled, her face glowing with a nice feeling of pride. "Well, I don't think my entry deserved to win that much... there were so many other talented people there, and I was only lucky that mine was chosen --"

"Of course it was good!" exclaimed Sakura, grabbing both of her friend's hands in hers. "Hina-chan, judging from these pieces I see here, you're one of the best artists I've ever seen! Don't you dare let anything get you down!"

Hinata blushed, flattered at the compliment. "T-thank you, Sakura-san..." she mumbled, not hearing Naruto's hurt-filled voice whining to his 'Sakura-chan'.

"You're not bad."

Everyone's faces turned toward the source of that voice. Uchiha Sasuke had opened his mouth for the second time this evening...!

"Like I was saying," he said in a rude tone, "you should have confidence in what you're good at. I won't forgive you if you dare to use me in something and then prance around saying that it's 'bad'. "

"Sasuke-kun, you're Hina-chan's model? Wow, Hina! It's awesome having someone so hot as your model, isn't it?"

At this, Hinata didn't know whether to look embarrassed or pleased.

"Ne. ne, Hinata-chan!" came Naruto's overeager voice. "I just know that all the girls are gonna like your pictures! You should draw a whole bunch of nudes, Hinata-chan! Then they'll reall--"

"No."

"Aw, c'mon! Use those killer abs and face of yours for something, at least! You won't even have a use for them in that stuffy courtroom you'll be in!"

"No, dammit."

"Psh, whatever."

Suddenly realizing something, Hinata asked, "Naruto-kun, is Sakura-san your model?"

Naruto was delighted. "You guessed it, Hinata-chan! That just means that your taste is just as good as mine!"

* * *

"-- an Uchiha, aren't you?"

Sasuke glared at Sakura then gave up, sighing. "I guess that's inevitable. Yes, I'm an Uchiha. Unfortunately, my clan doesn't like me and they won't have anything to do with me anymore."

"That's terrible," murmured Hinata, remembering her doting but affectionate father and her cousin and sister. She couldn't have survived during her vulnerable younger years if they had shunned her. "Even if the rest of my clan doesn't care about me, at least I have Otou-san and Hanabi..."

Sasuke grunted, looking away. "Stop talking about something so depressing. It's ruining the atmosphere."

"Yeah!" Naruto chimed in. "You don't need to worry about this bastard! He's like a cockroach; he'll live through anything! You can't buy such a kick-ass motorcycle without some serious skills."

"That reminds me, Sasuke-kun," Sakura interjected. "Do you have any siblings? I know that Naruto and I are only children and Hina-chan has a sister, but I don't know about you --"

"He's a wanted criminal who killed my mother," he replied, deadpanned. They grew quiet. "I don't want to talk about it."

Several seconds passed. Naruto gave a nervous laugh. "Well, that just totally killed the atmosphere..."

* * *

"I know, right? Those troll dolls are just about the most adorable things in the world!"

Hinata brightened considerably, blissfully happy that she had found at least one person who agreed with her odd sense of cuteness.

Meanwhile, Naruto rolled his eyes. "I never knew how you could call such freaky-looking things cute, Sakura-chan. I hate dolls and clowns!"

"I've lost respect for you, Naruto," Sasuke sneered. "Scared of a few dolls? You're pathetic."

"Eh?! They're seriously scary, bastard! You just don't know how freaky they are!"

"You're right, Sasuke-kun!" chirped Sakura from beside Hinata. "Naruto's just a right big baby. His dad and Jiraiya-sama scarred him for life when he was twelve."

Ignoring Naruto's blustering, Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Now that's one story that I'd like to hear."

* * *

"-- let's play the 'Find Sasuke's Secret Weakness Game!"

"Stupid Naruto! You don't just go around making up weird games like that!"

"Um, a game might be fun..."

"Not you too, Hina-chan!"

* * *

Cleaning up after the party, Hinata knew that she would remember that nice warm feeling in the bottom of her belly forever.

It was her first time having such good friends. Her supportive family was one thing, but she never knew that having friendships was this wonderful.

'I want to make this last forever,' she thought fondly. 'I want to experience this warmth and never let go of these friendships...'

A rolled-up newspaper wapped her head, waking her from her happiness-induced trance.

"Quit daydreaming and sweep faster, Hyuuga," said Sasuke, drying his hands on a towel. He had wordlessly taken it upon himself to wash the large curry pot by himself, a fact that Hinata was enormously grateful for.

"Did you enjoy the party, Sasuke-kun?" she asked, smiling.

Her dormmate just launched into another bout of neck-cricking. "I don't want that dobe anywhere near my apartment anymore. That annoying girl, too. They were nuisances."

Hinata just giggled. She knew that he just wouldn't admit that he had enjoyed himself. "So, you enjoyed it?"

He didn't say anything. She knew she'd struck the head of the nail.

* * *

... and so you found out various things. Itachi's deal is out for the world to see, now, but there will most definitely have another side to him. I like his evil persona enough, but his real soul has to be in here because I want to capture his essence too. So no evil Itachi here :)

I like the last little conversation snippet the best. That, for me, pretty much cinches it for the relationship between the four of them. Hinata's happiness at experiencing friendship will come into major play later when romance starts blossoming and the confessions start. That is still a ways off, so you'll have to wait a while for that.

This chapter almost didn't make it, so I'll have to warn you guys. I'll probably either update once a week or once every two weeks for now on. I'm jeopardizing my schoolwork already, and it's getting harder for me to write. So, less updates. Sorry about that. Two weeks isn't too long, is it?

Next chapter: Sasuke and Hinata development. Even though they're already on pretty friendly terms, more must be added. Please continue with the awesome reviews and look forward to it!


	7. Chapter 7

Live-In's

By BlackFeatherz29

Chapter 6

... and here I am, a week late and updating at 11 at night, too. What nerve. My life right now really is hectic; it's right before Thanksgiving, and we're just getting submerged with homework. I'm so tired already, typing at this keyboard. I'm watching Gods and Generals right now for an AP US History assignment, and I'm nearly falling asleep because I have to keep rewatching bits so I can write them down because I'm supposed to be writing an outline for it. The only thing that makes me happy is that I got a 98 on the last test.

I know, I know. You readers aren't concerned about my personal life. I shouldn't write about it in here either, but I'm feeling so miserable now. If I had my way, I'd be writing and drawing every available hour of the day. Sigh.

Disclaimer: You know the drill. This plot is my creation, but the characters aren't.

* * *

Far from thrilled, Hyuuga Hinata was deadly nervous for her first portfolio piece.

The assignment from Kurenai-sensei: Create a piece that creates a mood and express that mood through the color scheme and technique rather than through expression or props.

It was a difficult first assignment, though Hinata didn't wonder why. Kurenai was a serious teacher and she expected certain things from her students.

However, this came as a complete and total surprise to Naruto, who spent the entire lunchtime ranting on the difficulty of the assignment. Sakura finally got him to stop by threatening to mangle his froggie purse (she was stretching it and grinning sadistically at the same time, so the effect was magnified). Pacified by both getting his froggie purse back in one piece and thinking of painting his beloved Sakura-chan, Naruto coveniently forgot all about Kureni-sensei and began yawning like a well-fed cat.

'And what an adorable cat he would make,' thought Hinata fondly, blushing. A stripe ginger kitty, maybe? Only later when she came back to her apartment did she realize what she would have to do.

Hinata always hated making people sit still for her art. It felt like she was inconveniencing them in some horrible way, and no matter how gracious they were, it always seemed a crime. It now occurred to her that since Sasuke was her model that he was the one that she would have to make sit still.

She nearly collapsed against the wall right then and there. Uchiha Sasuke... she was going to have to make him pose for two hours? Her, this little tiny useless girl make someone with such a perfect Michelangelo-esque build submit to her petty wants? And to think, what was he going to think when _that _happened?

A small part of it might have been fear; she had a good relationship with Sasuke, but she felt somehow that she wasn't close enough to warrant this. Heck, she wasn't close enough to anyone to make them go through this! The other part was more... well, how could she describe it? Concern for her loved ones? Sasuke wasn't exactly one of the people most precious to her, but it made her heart throb to think that she was to cause pain for something close to her.

To her complete and total mortification, it was him who ended up bringing the topic up first. Right when she got home from class, too.

"Hey. Naruto told me about the new portfolio piece you were supposed to be working on."

Oh, no.

"When the hell were you planning to tell me about this?"

She couldn't back out of it now. Twiddling her thumbs, she attempted to speak without stuttering. So much for that wish. "Um, I was p-planning to bring it up in due time..."

"... when the due date is next Friday? And today is Saturday?"

"The deadline's not that close!" she protested, knowing how futile it all was.

Sasuke sighed, sounding like a teacher dealing with a naughty student. "What in the world am I going to do with you? You wanted me to be your model, and yet you don't even have the nerve to ask me to model for you. How sad is that?"

Hinata sagged miserably in shame. He was dead right. He had just hit the literal bull's eye. How in the world was she going to work with him if she didn't want to ask him to model for her?

"Fortunately, I've brought it up on time." Hinata looked at him, and he gave a smug smile. "How about tonight? I hate being late for anything."

Hinata considered it. There was still six days until the deadline, and that meant plenty of time. However, she was just as free on Wednesday and Thursday nights as she was on Saturdays, so couldn't it wait? It would mean more time to prepare herself...

"I'm not free any time this week except for tomorrow, so I can't do it any other time."

She closed her mouth, swallowing her unasked question. He had a nasty habit of always answering them before she got a chance to ask them. But wait a minute. He was always sleeping when she got home. How could he be busy?

"What, you think that I'm always sleeping?" She blushed at this. "I'll have you know that I'm a busy person, Hyuuga. I don't want you to get involved, but I don't want you to think I'm a lazy bum either."

Before she could get to her room, he stopped her. "Tonight," he said, reinforcing that word with a glare. Hinata gulped and nodded. At least that took the issue out of question; it wasn't her choice now, was it?

* * *

The setup was quite simple: In the far side of the studio, not close enough to the wall to throw a really distinct shadow, there was a chair that had been draped with a white sheet. On both sides stood small beside tables that she had taken from both of their bedrooms; one the left one stood three tall candles, and on the other stood a blue lava lamp. Hinata had gotten one from Hanabi on her birthday when she was ten. She hadn't liked it very much at the time, but its bright blue light had become a comforting presence in her room afterwards.

She would turn off the lights to the living room, and her back would be facing the kitchen, where there was still light. There would not be total dark, but there would be enough shadow to capture the mood. Hinata had set up her wooden easel and set a good-sized blank canvas upon it. She was currently squeezing out choice selections of acrylic paint of various colors; they included both warm and dark colors, and plenty of white though it looked like she wasn't going to have to use much of it.

"Are you done yet?" came the slightly annoyed male voice that came from the far bedroom door that spilled light out into the dark hallway.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, feeling terribly jumpy and nervous. She nearly dropped the tin of water that she was currently preparing, and she gave a yelp as some of it sloshed onto her bare legs.

The sound of footsteps and a scoff of "stupid girl" were heard as he came out of his room. "So... what am I supposed to do?"

Hinata, hurriedly wiping the spilt water off the tiled kitchen floor, now tossed the rag aside and turned her full attention to her (her!) model.

Beforehand, she had requested that he treat the whole affair casually. Not the dressing part, but the mood. He had just given her a weird look when she had confessed her fear with making people stand still to him. She felt a little dumb now that she had been subjected to his 'are you stupid?' look, but resolved to rid herself of that unnecessary fear with this upcoming job. She would not pale when she was in her zone... and she wouldn't let her perverted artist side take over either.

Now, she was not so sure, as she beheld the masterpiece he already was. As she had requested, he was to wear a clean white dress shirt, preferably casually buttoned with one or two left open, and black slacks. Nothing fancy.

And yet he now stood here, barefoot, scratching that bird's nest of black hair, he possessed all the elegance of a statue already sculpted. Even his angry face looked beautiful.

"Would you quit staring like my fangirls do?"

Only that made her tear her eyes away from the specimen in front of her, and even as she hurried to her easel, she could not even recognize that she was giving out orders in a way that she would never have done in real life. Such was her apprehension on recording that angelic face before her permanently into the poor canvas's surface.

The artist side had taken over, and she would not let her subject get away from her in any way or form.

* * *

Sasuke stared as the girl in front of him feverishly slapped away at her canvas. He raised an eyebrow in silent surprise, then let it down a second later when she told him to stop. Wasn't she currently painting something in the left corner? By gods, how many eyes did she have?

This girl, Hyuuga Hinata, had done a complete 180 on her personality. Only an hour ago, she was still the same bumbling red-faced little fool that she always was, but now she was something completely different.

He never realized this because he was usually so tall that he always looked down at the top of her head, but her eyes were white. Not just gray; they were white. Freaky. Those Hyuugas must really have had a wonky gene in their systems. Even red eyes looked less strange than white ones.

"If you could please hold still, Sasuke-san," came her firm voice, so uncharacteristically so. Sasuke shrugged and cracked a wry grin only to be scolded again.

This scene seemed... familiar. Somehow... it reminded him of his mother.

The daughter of a rich family that did business with the Uchihas, she was the sole female that he was able to be around during his early years of life, and she had forever influenced his preference of companions. Always calm and controlled in whatever she did, Uchiha Mikoto had been good at everything she did. And as brilliant as she was at the tea ceremony and flower arrangement, her skill at motherhood was even greater. She was calm like a gently flowing river, but woe belied whosoever happened to dip beneath her waters.

The males in his family had never learned to control their anger. His father had a tendency to strike his sons if they upset him. He himself liked to take his anger out on the nearest object that was convenient. And Itachi...

No, he would be done away with very soon. His mother's memory was the only thing worth keeping alive.

'And to think, I could see her in this tiny little creature,' he thought almost fondly, looking at Hinata's paint-smudged right hand that moved rapidly from palette to canvas, the scratching sounds from her brush pulsing almost rhythmically.

He could get to like this person who stood behind the easel. If only she could be like this more often.

"No sleeping, please. You're ruining the picture."

Sasuke blinked a few times and nearly saluted before remembering his position. "Yes'm," he muttered, hiding a smile.

'Hyuuga Hinata,' he thought with amusement. 'You have just earned my respect.'

* * *

Somehow, I feel like I should have written more. And somehow, the characters are somewhat OOC in this one. Well, so be it. I need to do my homework.

PS: Go to my profile, and please take the time to read my new story, Death Note: Lelouch of the Rebellion. It's a one-shot, so it won't take long to read. Just review, please? I'm tired of waiting for them, and I worked a full five hours on it today.

Hoping that I can update early next week since I'll be on Thanksgiving break...


	8. Chapter 8

Live-In's

By BlackFeatherz29

Chapter 8

I'm alive. I'm really alive. I can hardly believe myself. I have been through living hell (also known as final exams) and through the wrath of the harpy known as my mother and oppression against all things good (art and fanfiction) and I'm still here typing this. This has to be a miracle, right? Fine, fine, I don't think anyone else agrees with me. Just be glad I updated. This one is just a teaser, so it'll be short. A teaser, I repeat. Heavy backstory coming the next chapter. Look forward to it very soon :) I'm out on Winter Break, and even though it's not much better than being in school, I do happen to have more time than usual. Mostly because my mom works the night shift at the hospital and my dad doesn't enforce my bedtime. And I'm currently watching Lunch no Joou, and it's having a very good influence on me. Just the type of nice semi-platonic relationship I'm going for in my fic.

Disclaimer: These characters ain't mine. I'm just borrowing them for purposes that do not involve profits. No sueing, please.

* * *

Hinata didn't now how long it took for her to become aware of herself, but next thing she knew, she was pulling color from the background into the corners, the rest of the painting finished.

Grinning widely, she finished the other three corners as well before standing back, satisfied.

It was only then that she noticed the way that Sasuke was intently staring at her, still sitting where he was before, and the time on her watch.

It had been almost three hours already.

Only after several minutes of adamant apologies was she finally ready to lift her head to her dormmate, still burning with shame.

By then, that last part of respect that Sasuke had retained for her had melted away and he felt like his old grumpy self again. It must have all been a fluke, he thought, rubbing his forehead and looking down his nose to the girl sitting dumbly on the floor.

Meanwhile, Hinata was absolutely mortified. Her (her!) model had been mistreated by her on the very first occasion that she had used him for a painting! The horror of it all!

She was so engrossed in self-inflicted punishment that she couldn't quite comprehend the lights going off right a second later.

While she sat rather dumbly on the floor, wondering why she couldn't see her fingers anymore, her dormmate quickly strided across the room and swept back the shades to the window.

He then swore. Nastily.

"Wh-wha-what is it?" asked Hinata nervously, standing up gingerly. "W-What's happening?"

"I don't know what the hell is wrong with the electricity, but it looks like we're the only ones." She took a look through the window. The faraway lights of downtown Konoha were as brightly lit as ever, but as far as the campus grounds were concerned, everything was pitch black.

Violent banging was heard next door as well as screaming and swearing. Hinata swore that she could see Sasuke smirking in the dark. "Serves the dobe right for making Tsunade install an electric lock system."

Hinata didn't know that could be funny, but she refrained from commenting. Maybe it was just a boy thing. And she owned him such a debt, too. And the darkness! What'll happe--

* * *

It turned out that nothing happened. Nothing at all.

The darkness was so bad that sitting at the table for more than several minutes was unbearable. Hinata, who had always had trouble staying still in situations like this, had panicked and banged around the kitchen until she had found their emergency kit, which luckily contained one squat white candle and a box of matches. It wouldn't last long, but at least this was better than nothing.

Sasuke nearly punched a hole in the floor in annoyance when it became evident that the backup power system wasn't going to go on anytime soon. The very faint glow of the single candle in the middle of the low table placated both enough that they settled down quietly to wait for the power to come back on. Or at least, they tried to.

One doesn't usually get very far in pitch black darkness, whether they're actually moving or not. In this case, Hinata noted, it seemed that the longer she waited, the more unbearable the silence and darkness got. And so she had attempted a few stuttered pieces of conversation that resulted in nary a grunt in reaction from the person sitting at the other end of the table.

It was a very discouraging task, and she at last stopped trying at all and had to make do with moving various parts of her body in order to convince herself that she was still alive. It wasn't very convincing business, and she began to think that she wasn't awake at all; she was dreaming, when...

"Why the hell do you have to do that all the time?"

She was so shocked at first that she was completely convinced that it was part of her dream, but had enough sense to think better of it all.

"D-Do what?"

"That god-awful stuttering and twitching, that's what!"

Confused at Sasuke's bad temper, Hinata apologized profusely.

"There's no point apologizing! Just get rid of it. It's making the table shake and it's driving me crazy."

"I-I'm sorry!"

She heard an exasperated sigh coming from the other side of the table and once again wondered what had happened to put him in such a bad mood. Maybe her habit really was annoying?

"Why do you even do it?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why the hell are you always like that anyway? Always fidgeting like a squirrel, bowing your head and apologizing. Have some damn confidence in yourself!"

Was he actually trying to be nice to her? The thought seemed a little strange at first, but the more Hinata listened to his words, the more that made sense. Bad attitude aside, he was telling her to ... believe in herself?

"And don't go all 'I'm sorry' on me again. I can't stand it when people do that. Is saying that supposed to be some kind of excuse?"

"Um... I-I guess not..."

A long pause.

"I... I guess it comes from a lot of things. I can't help that I grew up like this."

She could hear Sasuke pause and could almost see the furrowing of eyebrows. "Raised like this? You're a Hyuuga."

"Well, I guess I'm not your average Hyuuga. My clan never liked me much even though I'm currently the heiress..."

"You're the heiress to the Hyuuga Group and you were raised like this?"

The words tumbled out before she could help it. "It's not like that!"

A pause. "Really?"

Looking down toward her hands (at least she thought she was), Hinata contemplated her answer. "It's... it's because I'm too useless to handle it all. It's my fault, really."

Silence from the other end. It suddenly occurred to her that this particular statement wasn't in the style that Sasuke liked to hear, and she nearly panicked. Was he going to explode again? Or --

"Start from the beginning." His voice was oddly calm.

"W-What?"

"I'll decide for myself if you were useless or not. You just tell me the facts."

Hinata bit her lip. Her dormmate, the scary lawyer-to-be Uchiha Sasuke, had just asked her for her life story. "Um..."

"Just say it. I won't make fun of you. It'll be good law practice, anyway."

A pause. "You... you promise?"

"What's there to make fun of?" A deadpan. "You aren't the dobe."

Hinata felt the urge to sweatdrop. Of course he would put it that way.

"Well, if you insist..."

* * *

I've been planning this from the very beginning. I hadn't planned on linking the first painting assignment to the blackout, but I couldn't find anything to put in the middle. And it guess it's a good direction to go with the heart-to-heart talks, so it's all good.

Look forward to the next chapter within a week or so. I won't abandon this story, especially during the finals. I was trying to decide whether to upload this as a teaser or to leave it until I wrote enough material later, but I decided that it had been long enough. An early Christmas present, if you will. Of course, there will be better Christmas presents in store later :) Keep up the encouragement! I'll get the next one done as fast as I can!


	9. Chapter 9

Live-In's

By BlackFeatherz29

Chapter 9

I told one of my reviewers that I had wanted to update by New Years. Actually, I had wanted to write that I wanted to update by Christmas, but then decided it would be pretty difficult. But it's Christmas Eve today, and I'm done with the next chapter! A bit short by my standards, but chock-full of relationship developments and fluff. At the moment, I'm kinda supposed to be practicing my SAT essay writing, but I'll finish this up first. Enjoy this chapter and Merry Christmas!

Disclaimer: I don't own the chars, but this plotline is mine.

* * *

It all started, she supposed, when her mother died when she was five. Before then, Hinata remembered nothing else but good memories. Her mother had been gentle and extremely indulgent, trying to make up with her poor health. Try as she might, Hinata's mother didn't live very long and so the small bit of paradise on Hinata's life ended.

She had been all but five when she sat through the ritual Buddhist burning of her mother's body. She hadn't understood a thing until she was taken by her father (whom she hardly recognized) to a strange big room and was told that this was where she would live from now on.

It wasn't the best time of her life. Kind as he was, Hyuuga Hiashi never had time for his oldest daughter, always wrapped up in Hyuuga Group business affairs. Hinata's half-sister Hanabi, whom she met shortly thereafter, had hated her upon sight and refused to speak to her. Her cousin Neji wasn't much better.

And so, into this environment, Hinata began her education. The exclusive elevator school that she was enrolled in was very competitive, and though she enjoyed reading and studying, she never enjoyed the competition. Smart as she was, she couldn't help but feel powerless when Neji and Hanabi completely outranked her in every subject. Her tutors were always scolding her, asking her why she couldn't be like them. She became more and more withdrawn

Even worse was when she was first introduced to the business field. She suffered bouts of humiliation at the hands of the other Hyuuga children when she could not keep up with them. She refused to have any more to do with it after awhile. Her very morals rejected the thought of manipulation in order to gain money, and she herself had no competitive spirit. It seemed to her that her self esteem could go no further, and she was desperate.

Her decision to stop going to those classes was the first in a line of small but important points that slowly worked her way out of the Hyuuga mold. After that, she began requesting audiences with her father. She had been ten years old.

Starting junior high, she pleaded tearfully with her father to let her attend a different school and for permission to live alone. To her surprise, he agreed, though both of them knew the chaos that would transpire in the Hyuuga clan for months to come. She began her year at another private school with both a freed and sinking heart.

Life was somewhat easier now that she had no Hyuuga relatives to contend with, and she had found a friend. Tenten was an upperclassman, an enthusiastic member of the volleyball team, and later met Neji in a freak incident (their engagement had been declared six months ago). She had been nice, but she wasn't always able to be there all the time. Hinata initially created a stir with her delicious homemade lunches and Hyuuga clan connections, but it died down soon and she melted into the wallpaper like fake painted flowers.

Being a wallflower was a good existence, she thought. No tutors to pick at her, no hostile cousins to harrass her, no relatives to glare at her or hunger after her inheritance. If everything would just blur together and life went on peacefully, it would all be perfect. It wasn't until her father, by some strength of will borne from love, forced both his daughters to live with him under one roof, that Hinata realized how precious her family could be to her.

Life as a true family took the three plenty of time to get used to, but eventually Hanabi learned to warm up to Hinata, Hinata learned to communicate, and Hiashi learned to balance Hyuuga Group duties with time for his daughters.

The circle was completed in eighth grade when a reluctant confrontation, one stinging slap, and a damn fine obento finally settled matters with Neji. But even though Hinata's life was now rosier than it had ever been, her tendency to shrink in the face of attention hadn't improved one bit. Content with her family, she had all but disappeared at school, and now the guilt began appearing.

With the discovery of art in high school, Hinata began to discover things about herself and the things around her that she never knew before. She discovered that it was hard to garner attention when she wanted it now that she had so firmly established herself as part of the shadows. It was truly painful to communicate with others. Art became a form of expression through which Hinata tried to let out her emotions.

Once Hiashi found out how his daughter's grades were being affected by her emotional turmoil, he became an obstinately overprotective parent. Though he already worked hard enough as both a single father, the head of the Hyuuga clan, and CEO of the Hyuuga Group, he attempted to become a mother as well as a father to his two daughters. According to his doctor, this was doing a number on his health.

Hinata, frantic over her father, had tried to break away only for him to cling on tighter than ever. Graduating from high school, she insisted on living on campus so as not to worry him any longer. It took many tearful fights to finally get away, and even more in order to make him restrict phone calls to once a month. The arrangement had been precarious at best, and it was from these circumstances that Hinata had come with David-san to Konoha.

* * *

"So... basically, you lack social skills."

It took Hinata a few seconds to sort out what Sasuke had meant. "I guess... but what does that have to do with Otou-sama?"

A snort. "Can't you understand? Your 'useless' attitude is the cause of everything."

This made her blink a couple of times in confusion. Her attitude? The cause of everything? "It can't be... I'm just trying to stop burdening everyone with my weaknesses --"

"There you go again, idiot. It nearly makes me sick to hear it."

He was mad again, wasn't he? Oh, yes, he was mad. "I'm sor--"

"And there you go again... again. You're like a fuckin' vicious circle, aren't you? I'm telling you, the entire reason that your old man is so stressed out is because he's worrying about you. Give him some appreciation, eh? And stop your damn apologizing. You just look stupid when you do that."

Hinata's mouth snapped closed like a fish, and she bit back protests before attempting to rationally sort out Sasuke's stream of rather rude statements. They were remarkably matter-of-fact, she thought, after thinking hard for several seconds. Why indeed was Otou-sama so adamant on protecting his daughter from all things harmful? Why was he like that now and not before?

'Because I changed,' she realized with a sinking feeling in her chest. 'I was the one who became depressed at school. I didn't tell him because I didn't want him to worry. When he found out, he was so angry... was that because he was mad about my grades or -- could he have been more worried about me?' Now that he mentioned it... Otou-sama had started his antics the day after that first parent-teacher conference. He didn't do it before because she always told him about Tenten and how well she was doing in school. He hadn't needed to worry then...

"You see? It all stems from those annoying and useless habits of yours. If only you could get yourself out of the fucking gutter, everything would be solved. There are people who care for you, dumbass. Get yourself some self-esteem and give them a break."

'It really is true,' Hinata mused, half horrified and half amazed. She had made her father worry, and now she was making her friends worry. Wasn't that why they were so concerned for her? They cared for her, and because she was acting this way, they had only wanted to help. How could she have not recognized that?

Despite her horror, she felt herself breaking into a watery smile. She felt hesitant about it, like it wasn't the time or place for smiling but it just started happening. Her ears burned with embarrassment, but a small part of her somehow felt relieved. Tears began gathering at the corners of her eyes, and she gradually gave up the fight to keep them from falling.

The silence was now broken only by Hinata's quiet sniffles. Rustling could be heard from the other side of the table, as if the boy in question was somehow uncomfortable.

After a particularly loud sniffle, he sighed. "Dammit, you're just the most annoying creature on Earth, aren't you? Making me look like a bastard for making a girl cry when I just tried to help."

Several more sniffs. "I-I'm s-s-sorry, Sasuke-san..." A pause. "I d-didn't m-mean to ap-p-pologize again, but you've just been so k-k-kind..."

More uncomfortable shifting. "Fine, fine. You're welcome for the help; just stop crying, all right?"

Hinata nodded, trying to stop the tears. Vaguely, she realized that he couldn't see her nodding, but she kept doing so anyway. They'd come to a mutual understanding.

"T-thank you, Sasuke-san," she said, after she'd gotten herself under control. "I'm g-grateful that you've taken the time to listen to me. Isn't there anything I can do in return?"

An annoyed 'tsk' was heard. "Just stop being an idiot. That's reward enough for me. Makes living here a whole lot easier."

She giggled softly. That was just what he would say.

* * *

Kinda a lack luster ending, but what was I supposed to do? Oh, and in case you don't know, there's going to be another chapter in the dark, this time more focused on Sasuke. You won't get the omniscient narration for his life's story because this story is basically all in Hina's POV, but you will get to hear most everything. I'm probably going to be slower in updating that one just because I've recently gotten up-to-date with Gundam 00 Season 2, and I think I'm becoming a fangirl for Allelujiah and Marie/Soma. There's so little fanfiction about them, though...

This is your real Christmas present, you guys! Merry Christmas, and have a Happy New Years!


	10. Chapter 10

Live-In's

By BlackFeatherz29

Chapter 10

Well... er, it's been awhile? Yep, it's been quite awhile. Considering the year-long breaks I usually take from my other stories, though, this was nothing. And boy have I got a treat for you... three thousand plus words of angsty goodness! I figured that it was update, even though I didn't have any ideas. I forced myself to reread my story, though, and then inspiration came. The part about Sasuke's past was hard to come by, though. I had bits and pieces, but not a whole picture. Unfortunately, this chapter might sound somewhat OOC, but I do have an excuse. This is not the Sasuke everybody else knows, but my take on him. He has different weaknesses, mind you, although the Itachi part is still somewhat the same.

As for my PSATs... I got them back last month. And I curse myself. Only a few points away from the cutoff point and the 99th percentile! GRAAAAGGHHH!

Disclaimer: I own this storyline, not these characters. If I could make a novel with different characters in their places, I probably would :)

* * *

Sasuke had never been a big fan of the dark.

Most people his age usually weren't, but for him, it was nearly unbearable.

Of course, he would rather rip out his own eyes than admit his fear out loud. He had learned from experience at the orphanage that children who were scared of the dark were instantly branded as 'cowards' and 'chicken'. Sasuke hated the dark, but he hated being called a coward even more. So in that blustering way that only scared boys could muster, he denied the very existence of his fears.

This situation, however, had rendered the option of aviodance totally and completely void. The sun had long sank below the city skyline of donwtown Konoha, and the darkness that pervaded the apartment that he and Hinata shared was complete and seamless. The lone candle that flickered with the slightest breeze on the low wooden table was the only thing he could see, and by its light, he watched a pair of pale hands twisting and untwisting continuously in agitation.

The sight filled him with irritation, his jumpy nerves sensitive to every little sound and movement. The quick, shallow breathing of Hyuuga Hinata contrasted with his own long, controlled breaths, and her wringing hands made small rubbing sounds that sounded thunderous in the stagnant air. 'She probably wasn't even aware of what she was doing,' he scoffed mentally. What a dumb girl.

Naturally, it didn't take long for him to come to the end of his patience. Sasuke was never endowed with a large amount of that particular virtue; hell, he never exhibited much of any virtue. Now, however, he was walking on an even thinner line than usual.

After erupting at the girl, Sasuke felt marginally better. It seemed like the power of speech helped him regain some semblence of control over his twitching limbs. Even when she kept on her usual broken thread of alternated stutterings and apologies, he pushed his annoyance down in the face of the better good.

'I just need to keep her talking,' he told himself. So when Hinata had suddenly answered one of his barbed inquiries with an unexpected retort, his interest was piqued. Of course, she followed up that with yet another apology, but he could care less now.

Instead, he volunteered to listen. Listening was easier on him than talking; his breathing had always been tightly controlled (a lifetime of martial arts training had taught him that control was the most valuable tool that a man could have), but his hands were silently spasming, and he was afraid that his hammering heart would be given away if he tried to talk too much.

He was interested in this girl, anyway. She would be in instant contact with him for at least a year more; why not take the time to find out if she was actually worth anything?

As he listened idly to her small voice grow and wane in lilting strains, he kept quiet and thought about all she was saying.

She really was absolutely oblivious, he thought with some amusement, his irritability sliding away. She truly did not see what the people close to her saw in her. Here was a perfect example of someone who was so selfless that they tainted themselves with their own thinking. 'Those types of people don't last long in worlds like this one,' he thought absentmindedly.

When he had flatly pointed out the flaws in her reasoning, he had been unprepared for her gratitude. Even more strangely, she had started crying. Crying. In happiness. Happiness.

She was just fucking unbelievable. What the hell was wrong with her head?

He should have been prepared for the impossible when it came to Hyuuga Hinata. He should have. But he wasn't. It was the fault of that stupid male ego, the same one that filled every male on the planet with bluster that would more likely make them fall flat on their faces than bring them any pride.

Now, he would pay for his own ignorance by being forced to spill his life story to this weird, unslightly little girl.

"Um, Sasuke-san... you wouldn't happen to be... s-scared of the dark, would you?"

* * *

Hinata, unfortunately, immediately suspected something was up when her companion across the table fell completely silent after she asked her timid question.

Her danger sense erupted, and her breath hitched up in her throat. Such was her fear of offending her obviously very proud dormmate.

"I- I know it was a r-really s-s-stupid question! Y-You don't have to answer t-t-that!"

A muted grunting was heard, not sounding very convinced.

She tried again. "Well, um... I-I'm sorry if I was wrong... but you sounded so uncomfortable that I felt that I h-had to say something..."

A long silence.

Hinata was in despair. In a last ditch attempt, she threw out something that her father always told her.

"Y-you know... o-otousan always told me that if you don't feel good about s-s-something, then you should t-talk about it..."

She almost didn't expect an answer, but then an impatient exhale was heard.

"Fine, dammit. Prey upon my very weakness, why don't you?"

Hinata blinked in the darkness, not quite believing what she had just heard. "Y-You mean..."

"Yes, goddammit, I'm fuckin' scared of the dark. Just leave me the hell alone!"

This reply sent an strange feeling creeping through Hinata's veins. Then, the oddest thing happened.

A bubble of something ticklish erupted from her lungs and nearly escaped through her open mouth before she clapped a hand over it. The entirety of it, however, had not been captured.

A strange sort of croak had escaped her lips, and she was startled to realize it for what it was: a giggle.

The stony silence that rang through the still air was enough to make her wish she could turn back time. To her utter mortification, she giggled again. It was as if she had not control over her own body. But it was so funny...! Her dormmate, Uchiha Sasuke, Stone Statue Extraordinaire, was scared of the dark!

Catching herself with difficulty, she forced the smile off her face hastily, afraid of what Sasuke might do. Then an even more dangerous though occured to her. Hinata remembered how angry Neji had been when she had discovered his secret stash of Weekly Shonen Jump magazines. He had nearly smote her right then and there. Later, he had painstakenly explained to her the intricate workings of the male ego. Males did not reveal their weakness. Males did not reveal their weaknesses at all.

From the level of frigidity that she detected aimed her way from unseen sharp black eyes, she no doubt that she had just gleaned into the inner workings of Uchiha Sasuke's very being. And she had the nerve to laugh.... she had laughed at him!

Her senses then went on overload. Her breaths coming in shallow gasps, she opened her mouth to spout off a string of apologies, but a voice stopped her.

"No matter how rude that was, I don't want you apologizing again."

Hinata choked on her unspoken words, and had difficulty pushing them back down her throat.

"Well?" Sasuke demanded. "What did you really want to say?"

Biting the inside of her cheek, Hinata nervously considered her options. He had her trapped. She couldn't apologize, nor could she make up excuses about why she had burst out laughing. He would kill her, though...! But he'd also kill her if she didn't listen to him...

"Um... u-u-uh... a-ano..."

"Spit it out!"

Hinata tried to calm her racing heart, but to no avail. Her words came streaming out in an unstoppable jumble. "I just thought that it was really cute!"

The silence that followed lasted almost five whole minutes. Then Sasuke's disbelieving voice rang out. "You... you thought it was 'cute?"

Hinata bit back a plea not to kill her on the spot. "Um... y-yes...."

"... that was the last thing I expected you to say."

To her utter amazement, the tension began draining out of the stifling air. Hinata's mouth fell open, and she nearly forgot to breath as her companion shifted again.

"You... you really don't know anything, do you?" A pause. "Of course you don't."

"I do!" The words burst forth before Hinata's brain could stop herself.

The pause that lingered between them was less stony than she had expected. She could sense amusement emanating from Sasuke's presence.

"And what, pray, do you think you know about me?"

She was proud of the fact that she only stuttered a little bit when she spoke. "I-I know all about the male ego... Neji-nii-san taught me..."

A short, bitter laugh came from the other side of the table, and Hinata shivered a little as the hairs of her neck stood on end.

"Male ego? I suppose it might have been something to do with that at first. But you are completely off. You would never understand anyway."

First came the deep sense of regret for having brought something that she should not have come to light. But then something snapped inside of her. Those words stirred something within her. Hinata remembered that when Hanabi threw tantrums, she would always angrily repeat those exact words. 'You would never understand anyway...'

The knot of frustration that had always welled up inside of her when Hanabi had said that was the same as what she felt growing inside of her now. An anger borne of tenderness, of defensiveness... Sasuke was her dormmate! Her friend! He had helped her sort out emotions that she had never understood for eighteen long years! And to feel helpless that she couldn't help him when he had helped her...

The opaque darkness gave her a surprising dose of strength. "Please," Hinata suddenly said, surprising even herself with her own forwardness. "Even if I can't understand you, at least it'll make you feel better talking about it."

A silence followed her ringing statement. Then, a low, deep chuckle split the air. Hinata flinched, wondering if she had said too much. But then, Sasuke spoke.

"I don't normally do this, you know. I hate talking to people more than anything in the world, especially to annoying girls like you. But right now I don't even feel like myself... I can't stand this darkness. God..."

He laughed a hollow laugh that sounded not the least bit happy.

"Just promise me that you'll never let the dobe or that pink-haired fangirl find out..."

* * *

Fear of the dark was not naturally endowed in Sasuke; it was only the usual childhood fear of boogeymen under the bed.

He grew up under the wing of one of the premier electronics business companies of Japan, one that had been founded even before the founding of Konoha. The Uchiha clan had been part of the very foundation onto which Konoha had been built, and it was this loftly pride that every one of the Uchihas inherited. Even the Hyuugas, successful as they were, were not as old and respected as the Uchiha clan.

Sasuke's childhood was fragmented, much of the memories lost after the trauma of losing his mother. He did remember that he had positively idolized his father and his brother, though. His father, the proud head of the Uchiha clan and of the company. And his brother, the most talented prodigy that the clan had ever raised.

He could never forget the pride that welled up inside when he went with his mother to Itachi's kendo or martial arts tournaments. Itachi was a natural at everything he did. His grades were always off the scale, his physical abilities were unsurpassed, and the fame that he brought the clan was unheard of. As the second son, there were lower expectations for Sasuke, but he always struggled with himself, trying to reach Itachi's level.

There came a point for Sasuke when he was in elementary school that all his affection for his older brother began waning. Itachi was twenty-two, the soon-to-be CEO of Uchiha Co.. Sasuke rarely saw him, and when he did, Itachi was always surrounded by the top Uchiha clansmen, discussing sales or some other intricate business scheme. A combination of childish hurt and jealousy developed into anger, and Sasuke isolated himself from both his family and his clan. Because of this, he never saw it coming.

Sasuke knew that Itachi was talented, strong, and proud, but he never knew him to be crazy. Uchiha Itachi was all tight, tight control. Every emotion and every action was efficient, and nothing unnecessary was ever wasted. Perhaps those long years of holding back had driven him to insanity.

It was the only explanation he could think of for what happened that night. Sasuke was eight years old, top of his class at his elite private school. Coming home from school late at night every day, he had not expected anything out of the ordinary to occur at all.

Arriving home, he found that the house was dark. It was strange that the home of the head of the Uchiha clan would be dark, but Fugaku had gone on an important business trip to Korea that night. Maybe his mother had gone to bed early. It wasn't until Sasuke cautiously made his way into his parents' bedroom did he find out the true reason.

The only light came from the streetlights outside, casting an unearthly yellow-orange light over the sight on the floor. The sight was so horrifying that Sasuke had been puzzled for several seconds before he realized what had happened.

His brother stood behind their mother, who was kneeling, the Japanese sword in his hand skewered through her throat. The woman's kimono-clad arms hung limply by her sides, making no move to remove the sword in her neck. When Itachi turned, Sasuke realized, his eyes were blood red. It was the legendary Uchiha Sharingan, the eyes had been written about in ancient Uchiha scrolls. The eyes of a murderer.

Sasuke didn't remember much after that. He thought he might have fainted, but he couldn't be sure what had happened after his horrific discovery. All he knew was that he woke up in the dark.

The space was small and cramped; it stank of mothballs, old wood, and furniture polish. However, none of this mattered to him.

He was alone. He was trapped. It was dark. It terrified him, for some reason. All he knew was that he needed to get out of there. He needed to get out of there, or a knife in the dark or a clawed hand was going to tear at him and kill him. The rough wood that pressed upon him from all sides was like a coffin. The hysteria came.

Sasuke did remember screaming into the darkness for hours until his throat ran dry and no sound would come out. He remembered hammering his fists and knees against the walls against the unyielding doors until the cuts became too much to bear. And the tears... they mixed with blood and sweat until he could no longer discern reality from his nightmares.

It took his clan members nearly two days to find the sight. By then, Sasuke had retreated into himself and fallen into a half-comatose state, having no strength left. The old woman next door had come in to investigate, concerned about Sasuke's sudden absence from school.

Uchiha Fugaku was immediately alerted, but he did not come home until a week later. By then, his wife's body had been painstakenly embalmed, his elder son was gone, and his younger son was still in a state of shock from his ordeal in the locked armoire and had developed a permanent fear of dark, enclosed spaces.

Sasuke's memory became hazy at this point, but he remembered the nurse telling him that he'd needed months of therapy to recover. Fugaku was furious when he saw his son's state. "Who's going to succeed the company if my only son is a useless vegetable?" he had roared at the nurse by his son's bedside.

Soon after his release from the hospital, the clan voted unanimously to exile Sasuke from the clan. To these businessmen, a useless son meant that the son didn't exist at all. And so, nine-year old Uchiha Sasuke was sent to the orphanage.

The years afterward were both healing and frustrating for him, because he was a confused child with no one to tell him what he should do. At first, he believed that it was truly for his own good. After all, his father was the only family he had left. But as time wore on, as his rations became scarce and his money supply dwindled and dried up, he came to realize what had happened to him. They had forgotten about him... purposefully.

After that, he gave no more thought to the ignorant bastards that his clan was made of. He saw what had made Itachi so crazy, surrounded by those big-headed freaks day after day. But that was no justification for killing their mother. He wished his brother had gone on a clan-wide killing spree instead; it would make the confusion so much easier to bear. From the first nights that he had spent at the orphanage, he was always plagued with fear of the dark. His nightly tantrums became so distracting to the other children that he had to be moved to a room of his own. It took five long years to be emancipated.

Whatever Itachi's mad reasoning was, that would have to wait until he was found. And Sasuke wanted to be the one who put him behind bars for the crime that he had committed, to hear from his own murdering lips the reason for their mother's slaughter. Graduating from high school with top honors but little money, he entered Konoha University for the purpose of spiting his clan. That, and Konoha had a reputation for providing a relatively good education with a cheaper tuition than most.

He shunned the business world any way he could. Instead, he focused on the goal of bringing Itachi to justice. He was now studying law under the peculiar but gifted Hatake Kakashi.

Even though he tried so hard to forget his childhood nightmares, which no longer plagued him like before, he could not help reacting automatically when faced with his fear. No matter how much he hated it, it was part of him now. And he hated feeling so weak...

* * *

I didn't really know how to end it... This is already so long, and I'm tired and I want to go to bed. Once again, keep in mind that Sasuke-kun's not entirely in his right mind. And no, he did not say all of that, at least not in those words. It was easier to write like that, and it flows more naturally. I didn't want to keep writing Hina's stutterings or predictable conversation between them. And yes, there is more to his story much like there is much more to Hina's story than you've heard.

And yes, Neji-nii-san does read Weekly Shonen Jump. He especially likes Hajime no Ippo. LOL.

Next chapter will be in a different setting, I promise! Keep it up with the reviews; I'm so grateful to you readers!


	11. Chapter 11

Live-In's

By BlackFeatherz29

Chapter 11

Broadcasting live from Changsha, China! I'm writing on vacation because that's the only time I can. School, AP exams, finals, SAT II, ACT, driving, summer school... oh, there's another SAT in October. Lucky me. But at least this one was able to be finished in time. It'll be easier to brainstorm when this chapter is over. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews and all the hits! This story now has officially has over ten thousand hits! I would really love to keep updating this, but I'm not sure when the next bout of writer's block will strike. Hey, I'm just happy that I have Internet in China.

Warning: some foul language and sexual innuendo ahead.

Disclaimer: All chars and the Naruto-verse belong to Kishimoto, but the plot belongs to me.

* * *

"Oi! Open up, you damn bastard!"

What? What the hell...?

"I know you're in there! Don't you dare ignore me!"

Sasuke grimaced, gingerly moving his limbs. He felt like he had just taken an all-nighter, run a marathon, and swam across the ocean all in one day, and had just gotten to sleep. Something in the left side of his head was throbbing uncontrollably, and the yelling, whatever it was from, was making the throbbing even worse. Sour annoyance made him crack one eye open to squint into the sudden sunlight.

"If you're not gonna answer, then we're comin' in!"

A loud crashing noise made both of his eyes fly open. It sounded like a pair of raging rhinos were trying to knock down his door... and, remembering with a groan the identity of the loud speaker, he realized that his supposition was most likely right. Naruto probably weighed as much as a rhinoceros anyway.

Two horrible crashes later, the mound of limbs beside him had finally stirred. She really was oblivious. Who else could sleep through that damn racket except her? Besides the dobe, but this time it was him who was doing the crashing...

Not that he was that much better off, anyway. Having little strength left in his limbs and even less motivation in his will, Sasuke decided to just blithely ignore what was going on and go at his own pace. The banging was probably just a figment of his imagination, anyway.

He sat up slowly, careful not to jar his head unnecessarily, and stretched like a cat. Hinata, next to him, had meanwhile hoisted herself up half off the floor, her long hair hiding her face. Sasuke ignored her, too, until she plopped back down and he saw the state of her face under all that hair.

"... Hinata?" he asked uncertainly, squinting at her. She looked horrible. Much like the freaky Yamamura Sadako from Ringu. Only with puffier eyes and less water dripping from her.

She let out a pitiful-sounding noise in reply. Then came a loud, wet sniff, and a couple of clumsy attempts at crawling that would put a three-toed sloth to shame.

Before he could ask what the hell was wrong with her, the banging concluded with a final crash as the poor abused door fell forward on its hinges and the storm arrived, a grinning Sai at his heels.

The storm in question (no pun intended) had been screaming incoherent curses for several minutes, but the sight that greeted his eyes was odd enough to make him shut up for a couple of seconds. Then…

"OH MY GOD! Sasuke, you fucking bastard! I knew you were an asshole, but to do this?! You're a freaking monster!"

What the FUCK was the dobe talking about?

"You look so confused that it's almost funny, emo," chirped Sai, his eyes happily closed. "It's almost as if you don't realize what you and your girlfriend look like right now…"

Huh?

"Oh, I see that you aren't nearly as intelligent as I thought you were. Let me put it into layman's terms. You and your girlfriend look like you've had an extremely exciting night in each other's arms. It sounded very lively through the walls."

No… he didn't…

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HINATA-CHAN, YOU BASTARD?!"

Rarely was the Uchiha irked with vulgar jokery like this, but this case was different. They thought he did… what?!

He shot to his feet and glared the deadly Uchiha glare. "Look here, you ignorant shitheads! Get your filthy minds out of the fucking gutter! Nothing happened last night. Is that clear? NOTHING HAPPENED!"

Naruto's loud retorts and Sai's smug remarks about his valiant denial were stopped by the loud sniffling of the little girl at their feet. Currently, she was scrubbing at her puffy red eyes with all the delicacy of a gorilla.

Sasuke decided that enough was enough. "At any rate, I have no idea what made her so upset. Ask her yourself. I didn't touch her."

"What else could have happened?" Naruto shot back, fury returning anew.

"We talked!" Sasuke exclaimed. "We talked, she spilled her life's story, and…" He paused.

Shit. Shit shit shit.

It really was all his fault, wasn't it?

"And you tenderly made love?" asked Sai, his deadpan sounding suspiciously gleeful.

Naruto had enough decency to blush, but Sasuke was too consumed in his own thoughts to care what the pale boy thought.

'I was being a fucking coward and started talking and couldn't stop, and then…? Oh yeah, then she burst into tears and started hugging me and … oh, that's why it hurts so much. She sure hits like a banshee. Sure screams like one, too, under all that ridiculous stuttering. Something about Otou-san and Hanabi and Neji-nii-san and me being stupid and worrying her to death… and then what did I do? Shit, I don't remember anything after that…'

All that yelling and crying must have taken a toll. And he had been telling her before how she really needed to stop apologizing and being such a softie… damn, what a joke.

"… maybe he's so caught up in the memories of the wonderful night of desire to come back to reality?"

He immediately came to. "You want to say that again before I tear your brains out of your skull?"

Sai smiled smugly. "I told you so."

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto was screaming, shaking the girl by the shoulders as if the world was about to end. "Tell me it's not true!"

"Na-naruto-kun?" Good gods, she was just now waking up?

"Sasuke-bastard didn't do anything to you last night, did he?"

She did not look like she comprehended anything he was saying. All she could do was stare wide-eyed at the person in front of her… Naruto? And dear gods, was she blushing and hyperventilating? Sasuke withheld a groan of annoyance. Just his luck. "Don't you dare faint on me, Hyuuga. And tell that idiot that nothing happened last night."

"Sasuke-san?" How slow could she be?

He resisted the urge to grab her by the shoulders himself and shake her a few times. "Yes, it's me, idiot. Wake the hell up already."

"I-I'm sorry… I d-don't know what you m-m-mean…"

What a load of bullcrap. Sasuke had half a mind to tear his hair out when Sai succinctly described the situation. "How was your night of passion? I thought the yelling I was hearing was a good sign."

Hinata first stared. Then she gasped and turned crimson. She looked like she was about to have a heart attack.

"What are you talking about?" were the first words out of her mouth. "What- what-what-?!"

Naruto looked half relieved and half crestfallen. "You mean… nothing happened?"

At his words, Hinata shook her head violently and burst into tears again. An accusatory glance was shot at Sasuke who had the decency to flinch, though he wasn't budging an inch.

"Okay," Naruto amended, standing up. "Maybe I overreacted a little."

A little?!

"I'm only being nice because Hina-chan's honest, unlike you –"

"And how the hell am I not being honest?"

"- but the next time that you hurt Hina-chan, I won't hesitate to beat the shit out of you. You hear?"

Sasuke wanted to slam him over the head for being so dense, but his headache had come crashing down after all of that adrenaline, and he was having a hard time concentrating.

"I'll hear all about the action later," added Sai, sauntering out of the door. "Don't leave out the details."

"You – you-!" For once, the great Uchiha Sasuke had no words. He was too exhausted and too angry to think of a foul enough name to call the smiling boy.

"You're gonna have to answer to my fist next time, you hear?" Naruto yelled over his shoulder, before stomping out without closing the door.

Wait a damn minute… the door! Sasuke half hobbled to the hallway, and gawked at the splintered remains of what used to be the door to the dorm.

"You should thank us for giving you the opportunity to replace your old rotten door!" came Sai's cheerful voice, and Sasuke wanted nothing more than to strangle him on the spot at that moment. Instead, he crushed his anger down mercilessly, and went back to deal with his dormmate.

She was nearly done with mopping up her tears by the time he sat down. Peeking through her curtain of hair like the shrinking violet that she was, she 'eeped' and whimpered a quiet, 'I'm sorry'.

Sasuke sighed. He was next to useless with crying women. But it was his fault after all. "Look. Stop crying. I'm sorry I was such a jackass last night and made you listen to depressing stories."

"I-I'm sor-"

"And don't you dare say that you're sorry or I'll kick you out."

He sighed again as Hinata hiccupped. "I'm just a damn jerk, okay? I just like angst at annoying girls to see what their reactions are. I'm not worth it. STOP CRYING."

It took a few seconds for her to gather her wits enough to attempt coherent speech. "But- but… you're my friend, Sasuke-san."

"… excuse me?"

"Okaa-san… she said that friends are people who can depend on each other when things are bad. Sh-she said that showing weakness in front of friends is n-nothing to be ashamed of."

He stared at her. Then he smirked.

"This is coming from someone who nearly worried her father to death because she didn't want him to worry?"

Sasuke was amused at the way that she colored. "N-no! That's different! That was-"

Damn, what a hypocrite.

"Fine," he conceded. "Just stop that damn crying. It's almost as annoying as your apologizing."

Hinata opened her mouth as if she was about to protest, but Sasuke beat her to it. "Go take a damn shower. You look like death warmed over."

She tentatively put a hand up to her head, then turned white as she felt the fist-sized tangle of hair at the crown of her head. "Why couldn't you have told me sooner?" she cried as she streaked for the nearest mirror.

Sasuke watched her weaving drunkenly down the hallway toward the bathroom and shook his head. God, what an idiot.

* * *

So... I think I am channeling Chiaki-sempai from Nodame Cantabile more than I should. Comes from watching too much Nodame Cantabile. Bah, whatever. It's not exactly comfortable sitting here on a hard wooden bedframe typing. I will be churning out chapters faster, hopefully. This chapter has been a roadblock of mine for a long time. Now that this is over, I can go wild! Sorry if anybody was too OOC in this chapter. I'm feeling a little odd right now.


	12. Chapter 12

Live-In's

By BlackFeatherz29

Chapter 12

Is there any way I can express how very sorry I am for the years I have neglected this story? Yeah, I didn't think so. So please don't kill me. I won't be able to write the story then D:

Thanks to dear Payce (curse yoouuu) I've reread my preexisting chapters of this story and found out that it really wasn't as bad as I thought it was before. Maybe there's some hope for finishing it after all. Thus, I've drafted a new direction for this story that may or may not mesh as well with the previous chapters. I've gone on to college, my writing style has changed a little bit (hopefully for the better), and I've decided to focus more on romance than drama until later.

Wish me luck that I can continue to update this story!

Disclaimer: All chars and the Naruto-verse belong to Kishimoto, but this plot belongs to me.

* * *

"Ooh… that Shikamaru makes me so mad!"

In all reality, Hinata didn't know if Ino was madder about her on-and-off boyfriend or the fact that her meatball sandwich was missing one meatball. Sakura evidently wasn't sure either.

"Again?" Sakura sighed. "What did he do this time?"

Ino shot her friend a deadly glare. "This is nothing like the level of the 'other times'," she hissed. "This time is unforgivable."

Hinata sweated a little. Ino was really passionate about whatever she talked about.

"This time…" Ino pounded a fist on the table, "… he's seeing some chick from Suna!"

Sakura shook her head. "That's it? That's why you're so ticked off?"

Ino glared again. "What's with you dismissing me like that? This is serious stuff! Shikamaru's not allowed to see anyone besides me! He's mine!"

"So, why did you break up with him in the first place?" Hinata was beginning to wonder the same thing.

"Because he was being a lazy ass! Because it was his fault in the first place that he broke my heart like that piece of cheap straw that likes to chew with his teeth!"

"… I think you're being a drama queen, Ino-pig."

Ino was not about to let up. "I am not! You are so much more like a drama queen than me, Forehead Girl!"

Sakura's face said that she knew she was probably going to regret where this conversation was going, but she was too stubborn to stop. "Oh? And what time was that?"

"As if I have to tell you. Don't you remember Sekihara-sempai in high school? You were crazy for him!"

Sakura blushed angrily. "T-that was just a schoolgirl crush. You have no business using that to blackmail me! I'm completely different from what I used to be like!"

"Sure… and what about that extremely hot guy that you said is living with Hina-chan?" Ino sneered. "You're even crazier for him than you were for Sempai!"

Hinata immediately snapped to attention as she heard her own name. "H-Huh?" Wait, were they talking about Sasuke-san?

Sakura stuck out her chin in a challenging way. "So what? He simply just happens to be extremely hot. I can't help how hot he is. Isn't that right, Hina-chan?"

"U-um…"

"Any girl would fall for him! And it just so happens that I have my eye on him!"

Ino didn't answer immediately. Instead, she narrowed her eyes and looked hard at her friend before continuing. "Then… are you sure that Hina-chan doesn't object? She does live with the guy, you know. Are you sure that there's really nothing going on between them?"

Sakura's eyes flashed angrily. "Of course I'm sure! He's just your model, right, Hina-chan? You already told me that you're not in any sort of relationship with him."

Hinata wasn't so sure that she liked the tone of this argument or that Sakura-san was putting her on the spot. "H-he's a good friend…" she said mildly, trying to honestly define their relationship.

"See!" Sakura cried triumphantly. "He's a friend, not a boyfriend. That means that he's single, and that I have a fair shot at him."

"But if Naruto's whining was any clue, it seems that every girl in the art department now knows just how hot he is thanks to Hina-chan's painting … what are you going to do about that?"

Sakura had reached the end of her rope. "Stop trying to be so logical, Ino-pig! Your attachment to Shikamaru isn't any more realistic, you know! A girl's allowed to dream, but you've got to know when to let go!"

It seemed that both girls had run out of steam for their petty argument. Hinata felt mildly better now that the atmosphere wasn't so tense now, but unbeknownst to her, a woman's stamina for gossip was a force to be reckoned with.

"So…" Ino began, twirling a long strand of blond hair with her finger. "I heard about that blackout that you had last week…

"Oh, please!" Sakura began another rebuttal. "As if you weren't there!"

"Well, I wasn't. I was out with Daddy on a Special Day. We went to the beach and rented a few movies." Ino gave a righteous pout before remembering what it was that she had wanted to ask about. "Oh, but that's beside the point. Hina-chan, what was it like spending the entire night with the hottest guy on campus?"

WHAT?

"B-b-but nothing h-happened!" Hinata stuttered, trying valiantly to defend her and her dormmates' honor. "We just t-t-talked!"

"Oh, don't be so shy!" cut in Sakura impatiently. "I heard from Sai that there were really weird sounding noises coming from your rooms. I didn't think that he would be that sort of person. Did he come on to you or something?"

Hinata was too mortified to say anything. Her throat had just dried up, and all the heat in her body seemed to have migrated to her bright red face.

"Still, give us the steamy details! We're both dying for them!" Poised above her folded arms, Ino and her wide rows of straight white teeth looked like the feminine incarnation of the Cheshire Cat.

"… b-but, we really did just talk…"

"Oh, don't try to trick me, Hina-chan. You're really cute, but that stutter is completely not fooling my lie-dar."

"It's the truth!" Hinata insisted, nearly in tears. "I-I know it may not seem like it, but Sasuke-san is really nice and wouldn't ever do something like that to me. And we r-really are good friends, so-" here she took a deep breath to steady herself, "- I would like you to stop disrespecting him that way!"

Ino and Sakura stared. Sweet Hina-chan never raised her voice at them!

"Disrespecting him?" Ino wondered aloud. "Did I come off as doing that? Huh." She smiled apologetically at Hinata. "Sorry I came off like that, Hina-chan. I don't really know the guy so I was just throwing words around."

Ino paused. Was Hinata really that dense? "… you did know that I was teasing you, right?"

"Of cour—huh?"

Ino and Sakura burst into laughter. Hinata blushed, confused and slightly insulted. "What's wrong?" she asked hotly. "Did I say something wrong?"

Sakura brushed a tear from her pale eyelashes. "Oh, you are so cute, Hinata! We were making fun of you, not Sasuke-kun! Haven't you ever done anything like that with your old girlfriends?"

Hinata blushed even more deeply, embarrassed that she'd let herself get so worked up over nothing. "Um… I didn't have that many friends in high school," she confessed. "I'm sorry if I jumped to assumptions and yelled at you guys."

Ino gave her a big hug and assured her that all was forgiven. Another thought nagged at her sharp mind. "It's adorable how much credit you give that Sasuke guy," she remarked, brain racing. "Are you sure you don't like him, Hina-chan?"

"N-no!" Sakura and Ino shared another giggle at Hinata's panicked denial. "Sasuke-san is kind of scary, but he's also really nice! I admire him so much; I would never think about him that way!"

* * *

"Man, what I wouldn't give for Sakura-chan to think about me that way…" Naruto rested his chin on the top of his tackle box and let out a long-suffering sigh.

"I would think that the '-chan' you add to the end of her name would give you some home advantage," remarked the slacker named Shikamaru dryly from the grass beside him.

"Alas, the classic curse of the unlucky childhood friend!" exclaimed Sai gleefully. Naruto glared at him but ultimately gave up. It was never worth it to get angry at Sai. The man took phallic insults to a whole new level.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the motley group of guys beside him. Of course they had to be Naruto's friends; why else would they be such massive losers? "So pathetic," he muttered under his breath.

Somehow, the fat one took offense at that one. "Oi, are you implying that you're better than us? Who the hell are you to say that? And why are you here anyway?"

"Chill, Chouji," said Shikamaru quietly.

Sasuke reluctantly bit back a vicious retort about Chouji having sharp ears like a pig. Naruto just shrugged and gave Chouji a 'what can you do?' look. "Chill, dude," he echoed. "He's just won the lottery of life because he was born smart and good-looking. You should have seen the riot that the girls in my morning class made today when Hina-chan unveiled his picture…"

"Unbelievable," sighed Shika. "Maybe if that happened to me, it wouldn't be so freaking troublesome to get a girlfriend."

"Weren't you dating that blonde who's friends with Sakura-chan?" Naruto inquired curiously.

Shikamaru heaved a massive sigh. "I was, but she dumped me after I had some arranged marriage meeting with the principal's daughter from that Suna private school. Sheesh, it's not like we ever really hit it off or anything. Good riddance to her; she was so high-maintenance…"

"At least you got a hot girlfriend for a time!" Naruto exclaimed. "My crush won't even acknowledge my feelings! And you, stupid git!" He glared at Sasuke, who raised an eyebrow. "You're already living with a cute girl! And modeling for her! How the hell do you get so lucky?"

"He's living with a cute girl?" moaned Chouji.

"Unbelievable," repeated Shikamaru.

Sasuke rolled his eyes again and added a fearsome sneer to increase its effect. "Morons. She and I share rent and I model for her. End of story."

"But you spent a night together that time during the blackout!" cried Naruto, outraged. "Whatcha got to say about that, asshole?"

"In a very compromising position," Sai helpfully added.

"Fucking idiots, the lot of you," Sasuke growled. "How many times do I have to say this? We talked. We fell asleep. You mowed down the door. How hard is that for you morons to understand? She and I get along civilly and that is _all_!"

He picked up his bag and stomped away, furious pace accelerated by the sound of disappointed booing coming from Naruto and Sai.

'… now that's not entirely accurate,' he found himself thinking once he got out of range of those annoying losers.

Hinata wasn't just some random girl he happened to share an apartment with. She had a name, a face, a personality, a unique position in his world. She existed as a living, breathing entity in his world filled with cardboard cutouts, and that had to count for something, right?

… since when did this happen?

Sasuke found he was slightly amused rather than irritated. How did that mousy little girl who spent the largest part of the day apologizing worm her way into his world?

Ah, well. About time he started making real friends.

* * *

Once again, I cannot apologize enough for this story. But worry not! I will finish! … eventually.

For anyone who wants to see a bit of my inspiration for the rest of this story, please check out a manga called 'Venus wa Katamoi' by Nakaji Yuki. It's a great manga and its art is very cute.

Next chapter: 2nd project – the need for speed.


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